A Spartan Among Shinobi
by UNIVERSAL MASTER
Summary: The Master Chief's life had ended at the destruction of the Infinity due to a traitor on board... he awakens in a new world with warriors known as "Shinobi" and being claimed as the "Pillar of prophesy" by a god. Now it falls under John-117's choices, will he ensure the prophesy in this new world safety and finally gain his sense of humanity... Or will he abandon it to a grim fate?
1. An Unconventional Demise

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This first takes place during the Halo comic escalation 10...I've got nothing important to say other than the disclaimer, cause if I don't I'll be sued... **

**And a promise is a promise.**

**So yeah... **

**DISCLAIMER/ HALO BELONGS TO 343 INDUSTRIES WHICH BELONGS TO MICROSOFT THAT IS OWNED BY BILL GATES. NARUTO BELONGS TO KISHIMOTO MASASHI... Because if I did own it, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction now would I... Okay, yes I would. Fanfiction and working out are my ways to burn stress. And having to care for so much money would drive me crazy.**

**CHAPTER WARNING: GORE**

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><p>"<em>Most of us regard good luck as our right, and bad luck as a betrayal of that right."<em>

_-William Feather_

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><p>-CHAPTER 1: An Unconventional demise...<p>

If someone had lost one they truly loved and appreciated more than hours earlier, they would be in tears. Some would choose to live no longer to make the pain go away, while most would be too grieved to complete any normal means of communication. Many beings go through these dark things that corrode our mind... Some of the traits are called sorrow, grief, mental pain, sadness, depression, unhappiness, and so many others they can't all be listed. There was only one conclusion to it all... The pain would never leave. It would never diminish... It was always linger in the pit of our hearts for as long as we continued to live and breathe. It would be an unremovable pin to our souls and spirits... It would always be there... Always... No matter how we denied it, buried it, covered it, erased it, it would be a permanent imprint.

Some have ways of mending these pained feelings. Ignoring it by any means necessary, deny it until that person gets a face full of reality, replace that pain with love, or just accept it as it is... The first option proved to be a false statement since there was no definite promise of moving on since the mind could never forget. Denying the pain would constantly make you keep remembering to forget it, to deny the truth. The next option proved to be the most successful, but it's disadvantage though would be futile... For certain people of course, Love only happens when it happens... It was something that couldn't be proved by science, or sought out by the desperate. But if you did have the loyalty of your friends and support, you would manage... Finally, the last solution proved to be the most agonizing solution to ones morale spirit...

However, one man was going through both physical and mental pain... Both pain's equivalent to being ripped apart by thousands of knives... This man had lost his one true hope and life. Lost somethi- no... Someone who had given his life meaning and importance. Light actually... This man could be described as a stone cold killer by all of his peers, an aging abomination made in a lab by most, or an overall monster. But some cared for the man as the most valued comrade in arms, and some would agree...

But what feelings did this being have toward everyone else? Simple, he wanted the safety of everyone's well being... It was his overall mission from the very beginning. Almost like an off and on switch to a machine, a setting. Defend humanity... That was all this man knew. It was all he truly fought for in everything. The only sensible obligation to uphold in his very existence was to serve the better terms of Humanity... As it's Spartan.

This man... Is Master chief petty officer sierra 117. A man brought into the UNSC when he was no more than 7 years old at the time. His entire life had been composed of being broken both physically and mentally, rebuilt, then broken again... This was a ceaseless process in his career and never ended... Life mattered of only 3 things to him._ Fight, live, serve_. After the insurgents which was composed of humans who wanted to begin a civil were temporarily dealt with, came a mixed alien race known as the covenant, then the appearance of the of a nightmarish virus called the flood. It seemed prevalent for the to walk in on catastrophic calamities on a yearly basis. But the UNSC ensured Humanities safety... Mostly Spartan 117 however...

Less than 72 hours earlier, humanity once again was at high risk of extinction from a once forerunner general named Ur-Didact. He had been accidentally re-awakened by Spartan 117 and had a destination course to earth in order to "Compose" ever being...

Spartan 117 stopped him... But not without the help of one of his most trusted ally, Cortana. An artificial intelligence who had worked alongside him for seven years... Seven long agonizing years... They were truly the best years in her short yet happy life. In this case John's luck had run it's limit.. Unfortunately AI's go through a stage known as rampancy which occurs after seven years of service. John had never felt such anxiety in his life by the revelation... It had the same impact on him the day he realized he would never be able to live a normal life ever again. He had braced himself to get home or better yet earth to get in contact with his last handler Dr. Halsey... If anyone knew Cortana better it was her creator herself. But his main priorities had changed drastically due to "him" rapidly.

Although Didact's threat had been extinguished... It had costed hundreds of marines, billions of dollars in damages, an entire city of New Phoenix to be composed... But most of all... Spartan 117 had failed to complete his own self mission with Cortana. While earth had been saved once again from destruction, the Didact defeated, cortana sacrificed herself to save John's life... Leaving John completely alone...

But as of right now... John was fighting for his life... against the revived Didact who was striving to use the halo rings against earth.

John viciously struggled to escape the Didact's death grip around his helmet as the alien god continued to squeeze it. His body was hanging up to his neck while his feet were swinging in the air above the ground, and all he could see was Didact's palm on his visor obscuring his vision. His vision began to show a spider like web of cracks around it until he realized it wasn't his vision... He was cracking his visor. All John could do was continue to endeavor the growing pressure around the base of his skull and listen to the growing crack...

**"No more..._Human._"** Didact's malice voice struck John's eardrums like a cannon. He kept trying to shake his aggressors hand off and try to break free. But Didact kept his grip solid on his helmet and continued to crack it. John's breath began to grow slightly rapid as his eye's scanned for any possible escapes. His thoughts were so erratic that he came to a conclusion...

Was this it? Was this where it all ended? Is this where he made his final thought and final action? After 30 years of space combat against alien aggression, was this who finally ended John-117's life and all of humanities hope. While John was nearly getting his head bent backwards to the point where he was beginning to think his spine might snap, even though it wouldn't due to his augmentations, he was feeling an agonizing pressure behind his neck. While this seemed unorthodox to John since he had escaped more intense situations, but this time there was no cortana...Memories began to spill into his mind as he awaited the inevitable death, exactly as his life flashed before his eyes. Almost like clouds of remembrance, he began to go over his life...

He couldn't remember his family, he couldn't remember his home, he couldn't even remember his real name. But he remembered the game... The game that made him stick out like a sore thumb on his home due to him never losing. John never thought of himself as unique or special in any case, but different like everyone else. While most kids played with electronics, dolls, or each-other, he would be playing king of the hill. The feeling of victory always lifted his spirits from Dusk till dawn on the grassy fields and hills. While his recollection was hazy he could feel the warm breeze against his skin, and the smell of grass during his earliest childhood memories. It was truly... Happy.

It was all like a torrent of water being flushed out of his mind as it continued to play. Spots began to appear around his vision and darkness was beginning to follow.

"TAKE HIM DOWN, BLUE TEAM!" Frederick's leading cry burst through the air as he rushed forward wielding a forerunner scatter-shot. Sprinting toward the god creating a dust trail behind him. He lifted the rifle and pulled back the trigger.

John groggily tried to lift his left arm and attempted to try and force the knife deeper in Didact's eye, to see if he could kill him once and for all, but his arms had become heavy from the lack vision and oxygen. He then felt himself be flung like a rag-doll and onto someone when didact released him and spurred a massive dust cloud into the dirt.. John felt the wind leave his lungs as his back hit someone and he sprawled in top. He felt a wave of vertigo take him for only a slight moment, before he attempted to get up by using his left arm...

Nothing..

He tried more forcibly this time but still he couldn't move. It was almost as if an invisible and immovable force was constricting him... This was scary to him. He was in the clutches of his worst foe, the one responsible for nearly all life being composed, responsible for causing another panic AGAIN, and most importantly responsible for Cortana's death. Remembering her demise brought a burning sensation in the back of John's skull but he managed to ignore it... For now. John growled as he tried to get up, until he was pushed off of roughly facing down on the light dirt surface that was now obstructing his view. John continued to struggle... Harder and harder he tried to force his muscles to at least respond to could only move his neck but that was only a few inches above to see blue team engage the didact. Kelly-087 looked back at him. But she was nearly hit by a golden composing energy blast from the Didacts prometheans. She looked back at John one last time before shouting.

"BLUE TEAM! CHIEF IS DOWN!" Kelly yelled alerting Linda and Frederick as she fired at the didact who let the beam bounce off him and create a small yet noticeable burn mark... But nothing else. Kelly kept firing at the malice forerunner who raced forward and gripped Kelly's weapon with its mighty grip and crushed it in half like tinfoil.

**"You shall be the first to fall..."** The didacts claimed as several Promethean knights appeared behind him and behind blue team as well.

They were surrounded...

Blue team never stood a chance...

**[15 minutes later]**

"_No... no... NO... NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" _John roared in his mind as he could still hear Frederick, Linda, and Kelly's screams course through his mind. John had tried to force himself up by any means necessary but could only move his neck a few degrees, his wrists along with his hands and fingers... But nothing else. It was like being forced to endure the most painful thing... And watch it all. While his team were fighting he inspected his armor and was stunned momentarily to see that it was remotely being set on LOCK DOWN... And the signal was being traced back to the INFINITY in the sub level section... In the exact same room where he got his armor removed for the first time in years.

John silently struggled against the armors phantom binds, or better yet the gears that had kept him locked in place, hoping he could at least reach for his dead comrades weapon. He would never forgive himself for this.. Ever. It had become to much of struggle to have connections now. He tried to shift all his weight to move a few feet toward Frederic's corpse and grab his scatter shot, which was muscle numbing to chief as he exerted all of his strength to just move an inch in the sand.. But didn't care to hear heavy impacts in the rock behind him and cast a massive shoulder over him.** "Why must you continue to prevail when I have crushed your only allies?" **Didact questioned while placing his foot on chiefs back to stop him from moving. John didn't really care or listen to him but tried to simulate a plan... And nothing was looking good since his armor was on lockdown and nothing was working right. He had to keep his emotions under control which ranged from an intense rage and sorrow from not being able to aid his brothers and sister who fought to save him... Now gone

John hated Didact..Which was rare. He absolutely did. If there was any subspecies in the galaxy he hated more than now it was no where near the hatred level he held for didact. His hatred was something rarely given to anyone or anything... But the Didact had crossed one too many lines to be spared... Once John got out he would end him...

But how? He had used every strategy in the book against the enemy in every way shape or form. He had used guns to blow away the didact to smithereens. That didn't work. He used explosives to the extreme by detonating a nuclear weapon and hoping to try and kill him, and even shoved a grenade in his chest. But _still _nothing. He impaled Didacts left eye with a knife, gouging out in the process, which should have been a guaranteed fatality to anyone unlucky enough... Yet **again **nothing. It was beginning to look grim and rather scary... But John didn't know the word fear... He had experienced it a few times in his career, especially after his first contact with the flood. That was when he felt an unused emotion...

Fear...

**"I should rid you from the galaxy... But I will let you perish on you home... With the other lower beings underneath my competence."** The Didact finished as he lifted his boot off John's back giving him a chance to move...and reached down around the back of John's neck. The Didact's metallic fingers wrapped around his throat and lifted him slowly off the ground. John finally got a glimpse of blue team... And he wished he hadn't as he felt his heart spike, and the feeling of ripping Didact a new one.

Linda was missing her lower torso and was up against a stone. Blood pooled around like a river letting it spill onto the dirt and had begun to dry up. Her intestines rolled out and were clumped around her lower region and had begun to slosh into the dirt. Her armor was scratched and slightly dented in many places from being smashed into the boulders by the Didact's zero gravity telekinesis... Next was Kelly who was in one piece, and was sprawled over the ground, but her helmet was no there... Not even a head. Her head had apparently been torn off by the Didact iron grip and thrown somewhere...

Lastly was Frederick whose death seemed the least gory... Didact had used the knife John had stabbed him with and stabbed Frederick right through the visor and into his skull, killing him almost instantly. He was 40 feet away on the ground covered in dirt. He was on his back with his arms spread in both directions. Almost like an angel. But recently John had noticed his own visor had been broken. Directly over his left eye letting him smell the blood outside and feel the warm air his his eyelid. He didn't know it himself... But his eye was twitching from the intense rage he was experiencing. His fingers were clenched to the point he though he might break them, and his teeth were shut tight. His brow furrowed and he said lowly. "You... Killed them..." The Didact ignored this however.

"**And as for you..."** The Didact growled as he grabbed 859 static-Carillion with his other free hand. The forerunner tool had tried to sneak up on didact more than once in the fight, but Didact had sensed him and waited to strike like a viper in the grass.. **"You turn against your own master... How insufferable indeed." **

"You can't control the composers. Or erase humanity. It doesn't belong to you." 859 static carillion stated. "The backlash from an unknown energy will wipe everything within 25 light year-"

"**Now you shall join the spartan in death." **The Didact said before John heard metal being crunched and smelled an odd substance rolling through the air. Next it was followed by the sight of a crushed carillon flying on the rocky ground with a few loud "CLANKS" and finally stopped at Fred's feet and created a small dust cloud. Carillon crackled with electricity before causing a massive explosion and blowing Fred several feet away and rolling onto his stomach. John growled and continued to struggle only to notice an orange light was enveloping him. It became too bright and John's heart was racing... Knowing the Didact had won.

And he had failed... for the very last time.

**[U.N.S.C. INFINITY/25 minutes later/Control Deck]**

"Whats the status of blue team commander Palmer? Captain Thomas Lasky questioned to the female Spartan IV. Thomas Lasky was a decorated middle aged man of about 40 with brown hair and brown tired eyes. He had served in the UNSC since his family had history in the wars, and was just recently promoted to Captain of one of the largest warships in the UNSC. When he was 18 in the prime of his early training, he met the master chief for the very first time. This was due to the fact the academy he was stationed at was targeted by the covenant, attempting to wipe them out. This resulted in numerous of his teammates during training to meet their grim ends that day. His first love... Had also been one of the victims. But her sacrifice had pushed him forward, bringing out the marine inside him.

She looked at the readings before her eyes widened at the red implications on the screen. "Blue team... Has been eliminated captain." She stated with a serious tone. Lasky turned to her before speaking in an authoritative tone. "There's no signs of them?"

"No sir, Spartan-087 is deceased. Spartan-104 is deceased. Spartan-058 is also deceased... But Spartan-117's life scan isn't there." Sara finished. Lasky's eyes widened as he stepped back. His hand went up to is collar as he loosened it a bit. He looked over at the rest of the stations in the room and saw all of peoples faces. Some held shock while others grew increasingly worried. Sara coughed lightly as she pressed the com link on the side of her helmet. "I need a search team to engage the perimeter and recover the bodies of Spartans 087, 104 and 58 immediately."

Meanwhile Lasky was having a mild panic attack and was beginning to have sweaty palms. He felt a large sense of guilt whenever anyone under his comman died or never made it out. The master chief though, that might not ever leave though. But he didn't have time to mourn.. Before a question entered his mind. He turned over to palmer who was about to leave and asked. "And Spartan-117s location?" He questioned again, trying to deny The master chief's death. Palmer turned to him and answered stoicly through her helmets side speaker. "He wasn't there." Lasky blinked before clearing his throat with a relieved sigh. Maybe the master chief had survived and made it out. " Then there's a slim chance. But that's unimportant right now. Do what you need to do-

**FFFFFWWWWWAAAAOOOOOWWWMMMMMM!**

A bright orange cylinder appeared in the middle of the control center alerting all of the occupants. The brightness became so intense that everyone without masks had to cover up his face. A smell took over the control room and the bright light grew to an unimaginable proportion and a low _thumm_ sounded throughout the metal halls of the control deck.

A loud "THUMP" sounded and the light disappeared making all of the occupants blink to regain their perception of sight. They opened their eyes to see a 7 foot tall armored Spartan fall to the floor and his back against the pedestal of the control deck. Lasky lowered his arm and paid closer attention to see Spartan-117 incapacitated and looking worse for wear. Lasky raced forward and gripped the aging spartans shoulder and shook him. "Master chief are you alright?" Lasky worried. Master chief looked up at him showing his one blue eye behind the cracked orange visor. "I failed sir... I failed." Master chief claimed with a new emotion lacing his voice. Lasky blinked before Sarah palmer came forward and looked into his eye as she knelt down. "Can you move?"

"No."

"Are you injured?

"No." John said not even looking up... He had failed so many in so little time...

"Is there any damages to your armor?"

"Its on lockdown." John muttered.

"Why's that?" Palmer asked with a calm tone.

"It doesn't matter... The didact activated the-

**BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM**

"ROLAND, SCAN THE READINGS OF THAT FLUCTUATION!" Lasky ordered the A.I at the top of his lungs. In the room as they noticed several of the machines in the room had began to malfunction. Computers lit up before shutting off and lights blew. Sparks rained from the ceiling and disappeared toward the floor. Sarah palmer was looking towards the outside vast space and noticed an orange glow that was growing...

"WHAT'S HAPPENING!?" She yelled as the orange got closer and closer...

Then all hell broke loose.

There was an ominous boom in the station followed by a bright glow within the room. Lasky was beside Palmer and begun screaming and shaking... His skin began to recede by an orange glow as it slowly peeled back, next came his muscles underneath that gave him an appearance of something seen in movies, then came his skeleton... And then everything else turned to dust almost instantly. as orange particles faded from the air. Palmer shared the same fate in the exact same order and turned to dust save for a few pieces of armor that hit the floor and her rifle with a clank.

Everyone in the room began screaming...

And screaming...

And screaming...

It was truly a sick sight to John, like everyone he had failed in his life would scream, constantly ringing through his ears reminding him of how much of a disappointment he was... He would never forget it for as long as he lived for...

"..."

"..."

Then nothing as the ship grew to a louder proportion of screams as they rolled through the deck from the rest of the massive cruiser.

Screaming..

Screaming..

Screaming..

John was beginning to shake... He wanted it to end.. He couldn't take it anymore.

Screaming..

Screaming..

Then silence...

Master chief could only watch as he felt the same effect of the composers before. A mind numbing feeling through every fiber in his body. His entire body was shaking and sweating...

And then blackness took over him one last time... as he entered the most peaceful sleep he had ever experienced...

**[UNKNOWN]**

The light yellow/blue sky filled the upper layer while vas green vegetation filled the jungle far bellow. The were an excessive amount of trees and plants that ranged from the millions for miles in all directions. Many plants sported different colors, range from different sizes, and waterfalls poured down the colossal leave shaped tubes. The Mountains were nearly touching the sky and were green as the forest.

The land was by far the hardest to locate, almost invisible to pinpoint. It was dated that no one, absolutely no one could find this place without the help of its inhabitants without the risk of becoming lost. It was so tricky to follow, a secret path was developed for those who gained the trust of its rulers to frequently visit...

The rulers, inhabitants, or overall beings who lived in this mystical land of the mysterious mountains and trees were summons... Specifically toads.

But not ordinary toads who give you warts after you try to grasp them with your hands. But very intelligent beings who lived through the ways of chakra, and the ancient art of senjutsu that gathered all of the natural energy around them. They are greatly famed for using their sacred oil fountain in the midst of battles and teachings. It was so rare, that the minute it left its graceful land, it would immideatly evaporate.

But something terribly wrong...

...

The great Toad sage, being known for being the wisest and could foretell the future... Was having a massive headache. But not just an ordinary headache... A immense one that made him groan as his webbed hand rubbed the top of his warty scalp. After nearly hundreds of years of life, the ancient toad was in pain due to an unbalancing matter. While not rare since the fate of time changed almost every second with every action...

Someone, or something was unbalancing everything supremely...

Like the calm pond had a small ripple... But the ripple that continued calmly became more unstable as the balanced nature... Fell but rebutted almost to quickly.

The information pouring into Gamamaru's thoughts were simply too much to comprehend. Almost like an overload of constant foreshadowing of future events, riddles, and everything else had become null... Until now.

Gamamaru took his simple hat off and looked down upon it... Before looking back into the distance Mount myoboku before falling asleep to wear off the migraine.

_"May the pillar of prophecy... Not destroy the balance for the child of prophecy..."_

**[UNKNOWN]**

John felt like something was forcing him to wake up... He suddenly did not feel tired anymore, but had the warmest sensation around his face.

He opened his eyes and was only met with one color...

White... Pure bright, vivid, white.

He felt weightless... as if he wasn't truly there. He felt as if he had been asleep for a millennium... He eyes felt very heavy along with his body. He was very parched and desperately needed something to drink... And he felt very sore... Almost as if he hadn't moved in ages.

"**Life between death is peaceful isn't it?" **A old voice sounded and echoed throughout the endless void.

John became startled and tried to move but noticed he couldn't... Not even turn his head. This was becoming infuriating at the fact he couldn't move to save his team, or his captain, or cortana...

He HATED being constricted...

"**Do not worry, your quest has only started." **The voice said.

John tried to look again but felt something holding his face directly forward.

"Who are you?" John groggily muttered as he tried to fiddle with moving... But to no avail.

"**I go by many titles and names throughout time itself..."** The voice said. ** "But my real name is Hagoromo." **The voice now identified as Hagoromo said as an odd sound loomed over the white cloudy area.

John thought for a second... Until he asked a question that sounded insane to him.

"Are you forerunner." John knew the galaxy and physics had no limits from what they held, but this seemed out of everything he had yet to understand. But what he did understand is that all the forruners had either been asimalated, or wiped out by the flood... He was not sure where he was... Or who he was talking to.

**"No... I'm not..." **Hagotomo's voice boomed. **"I;m am not physical, nor godlike... Just me... But something has altered that."**

"What happened?" John asked in a blank tone. He was at a loss of words as of right now... He had lost his team, his mission, the INFINITY... and couldn't process what was going on right now... Other than death. Was this heaven? Not that John believed in anything religious since time evolved to different religions and nothing was ever forced into the marines or Navy. he had witnesses many men hold onto belongings of some religious meaning before battle, but never divulged into that. He would hear men "Pray" before battle...

"**You didn't die if that what you're thinking. You simply are in submission without thought."** Hagorormo said as the colors shifted to white from blue.

"What?" John asked not really understanding the basis of the explanation.

"**It means you are in a deep slumber that has your soul dreaming... Now you are destined to appear in a time where-**

"What are you talking about?" John cutoff getting sick of the playing. He needed to finish off the didact. The crimes he had committed had risen to... to... This was beyond a new level of malice...

"**Your quest spartan... To undo what will happen." **Hagoromo said.

"I'm a solider... My duty isn't done..."

"**But now you have to... There's no other choice." **Hagoromo rebutled.

"We make our own choices in anything." Chief said remembering cortana's sacrifice to save him... That was her choice... But it left him broken...

"**That's true, but in this case no... You don't. There is a prophecy that foretells of a child who would bring the world to peace by gaining power through love. But his teachers actions would determine of what use he would use his power for... " **Hagoromo continued. **"It was prophesied through all the loss and death there would be a great battle and it would determine whether he would save the world... Or destroy it..." **Hagoromo finished...

**"Then you caught my attention. Before I passed I was told of the prophecy by a great being... He told me... But then something happened."** Hagoromo paused for a few seconds to continue the story.** "My memory became distorted and I thought I had heard every detail but shocked to remember that I had forgotten essential guidance.. The being who told me was a legendary toad known as Gamamaru."**

John was listening... But not actually believing it, but he decided to listen since he had no mean to leave.

**"He foretold me of a mischievous blue eyed boy who would save the world by combining the Bijuu... But the only way he would succeed... Is with the help of his pillar to the prophecy." **He finished momentarily for the sound of whispering winds to roll through the air. John was not understanding how a reptile was legendary, and no idea what Bijuu was. He didn't understand what this thing was telling him, or what it had to do with him in the first place.

"What does any of this have to do with me? This doesn't have any concern with me, or my duty." Chief said as he brushed off the story and was waiting to see what would happen next... But he wished he hadn't.

The blue sky turned ebony black and a thick killer internet struck John like a banshee blast... and two massive purple eyes appeared with rings in them. **"THE PROPHECY IS AS REAL AS YOU AND ME... I WOULD ALSO SPEAK MY WORDS VERY CAREFULLY..." **The once calm voice now sounded darker and more grim than ever before. Was this heaven or... the other darker place. Or was this all just a dream...

**OR a nightmare.**

"**And your duty is to become a pillar to the child of prophecy." **The sky became gray after that...

It seemed the areas were affected by the tone of Hagoromo's emotions..

"Pillar?" Now he was supposed to be a decorative accessory to a kid...

"**There is no indefinite way of knowing if he will truly rise and be the world's savior.. Since you have done it on many occasions.. Along with your universe... Now are you ready Pillar to the prophecy?" **Hagoromo questioned one final time expecting an answer.

John was very indifferent of the choice... His overall mission had failed, and everyone... This was about to become a war against time and reality to him... Once he entered a game of lets play hero, he would win... But when someones life was on the line... That would be a questionable debate. The last few hours John had been questioning his luck since everyone he had cared for died... Was his luck turning salty? Or was fate a cruel being? He really couldn't decide what was going to happen...No, he can't abandon earth like this, not now. He didn't spend his entire life training, and fighting to give up everything for some hallucination...

This was probably all a dream...

"**Your time is up... Goodbye...And do not fail the child... Or it will be the last thing you hold precious for." **Hagoromo finished as the purple eyes turned pure white...

And sleep took John as every fiber in his body split...

IT HURT... Alot...

And everything around him burst into a glowing glare stronger than a super nova.

**[Middle of Ocean within Kirigakure]**

John felt his back in his armors surface...

Check..

He then heard something crashing... Not metal, glass, or vehicles... But water...the sound of waves...

...The ocean... was John first thought as he opened his eyes and was met with the sight of the metallic ceiling of the INFINITY. All he could smell was salt from the sea... and the sound of crashing waves... A low groan escaped his lips as he tried to concentrate and gain a sense of what was going on around him... Everything had sped through so quickly he was trying to catch his breathe and collect his thoughts.. Or what was left of them at the moment. He suddenly felt a pull in the back of his throat when he remembered what had happened and nearly felt his lip clench. He felt as if he had woken up from a nightmare into a whole new meaning of terror. The Didact had won, humanity was going to face his genocide on their own without any defense, and all of his comrades were killed because of his mistake.

John was adapt to making mistakes... Nearly a lifetime ago that is when he was in his youth and more inexperienced days. The days when missions that were run over a brief became something more horrible... They became real. However, mistakes costed him greatly in lives... It would constanly ache in the back of his heart forever and always no matter how much he would try to shut it out.

Over the years it ached less and less since he had more important things to pay mind to, like stopping the covenant...

But it was still there. No matter how small, or large, the weight would never diminish...

In the end... Everything was getting worse by the second.

After an unknown amount of time of not stuttering a thought. John had enough with collecting all of the accidents, and decided to get up. He spread his hands across from him and pushed himself off the ground slowly. After rising a few inches and nearly sliding forward and gaining the sound of screeching metal...

_Wait... What?_

John looked down in front of him and saw an endless ocean... Was it a dream?

It was a calm and sunny day with a cool breeze...

...and half of the INFINITY had been torn in half. Considering the metal surrounding the outline looked like it had been forced apart and quite sharp. This had resulted in hundreds of metal debris to float in the salty water hundreds of feet below him like scattered puzzle pieces. Some pieces He also took note that something was very off about everything around him... It all looked, not real. As if this was a simulation of some sorts. When he was younger there would be animated television shows in shopping districts that would draw crowds of curious ... Everything looked as if it were animated. He lifted his right hand and examined it...

The same example was his hand. The detail was too obstruct, as if someone had actually illustrated him and animated him. The colors were... _not right _to say in the least. It didn't look or seem real. He moved his fingers around to see if he was in control... And sadly was. Almost like a machine starting, John was piecing together what was in the air... Possibly. If he had Cortana she would have told him 37,000 different reasons why this was going on. Now that he was alone, his eyes and ears were going to have to be manually operated from now on it had seemed. Ever so slowly he stood up to see it was still real. In a way at least.

John looked behind him and on the floor to see the rifle Sarah was using next to a pile of dust.. Sarah palmer's dust that is.

The dust pile whipped slowly around as a soft breeze caused it to pick up a little and float up off the deck. Like a swirl, its soft motion continued as the breeze from the opening in the massive hole in the deck mad it disperse and spread into millions of nearly invisible particles. Sarah's armor was then stained by a small patch of dust over her tilted helmet that layed on the floor, gleaming by the light over its blue visor...

Johns neck craned toward his back and slowly looked behind and to the ocean and stared at it for as long as he could.. With one question clouding his mind.

Where in the galaxy was he in and how would he escape?

**AUTHORS NOTE: Inspiration for this chapter was difficult and a bit bland. I wanted to pace through the prologue as fast as I could and get to the main story because the buildup was becoming too much. I have been working my ass off for the past few weeks and suffering minor depression from my family. It's been a rough month and it's paid off. **

**Please leave a comment or PM me for your thought and I will gladly answer it... Flame or insult the work and I gladly ignore you and tell you to go fuck yourself since I'm tired and stressed.**

**The next chapter will come soon... But I have other work to accomplish...**

**-****buona giornata**


	2. Unknown planet, Uncertain plans

**AUTHORS NOTE: I cannot tell you how annoying it is for me to find any type of spelling errors without pulling my hair out. It's infuriating for me to find such small mistakes and pass them on like that... Well anyway, here's chapter 2 and I CAN'T BELIEVE NARUTO IS ALMOST DONE! OVER 17 YEARS OF MEMORIES... Oh well. Everything comes to an end sooner or later, I just wish Kishimoto would finally reveal the main cannon pairing and quit leaving us with blanks...**

**But knowing him. He'll do the exact opposite and say "The main point to the story was brotherly love no matter what."**

**0~0**

**Also I'll say it again... Ideas are greatly needed. While I have the main plot covered since the series is ending, ****I still need details to add****... So PM me for your thought. I won't bite... That means you "****the rakiat" ...**

**0~0**

**DISCLAIMER/ HALO BELONGS TO 343 INDUSTRIES WHICH BELONGS TO MICROSOFT THAT IS OWNED BY BILL GATES. NARUTO BELONGS TO KISHIMOTO MASASHI...**

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><p>"<em>A hero is somebody who voluntarily walks into the unknown."<em>

_-TOM HANKS_

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><p>Chapter 2: Unknown planet, Uncertain plans...<p>

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><p>John watched the ocean waves crashed against the metal hull of the Infinity hundreds of feet below... He observed the rough seas before calculating it was around 8 AM and since the sun was in a certain position in the sky, the wind speed was around 62 mph headed southwest, and around 71 degrees. But this was the amor's scanning. He also took note that his helmet was still heavily damaged and the gaping hole in his visor was still there right above his left eye.. Now in most cases he would go directly to an engineer and have it fully removed... But since the loading bay was on the other half of the ship and the other half of the Infinity was no where in sight.. He was stuck... And there were no engineers to help him remove it... Basically he was stuck in this armor until further notice.<p>

John lifted his hands and tried manually to remove the helmet. He also noticed his motions were now in full control since something had him on lock-down earlier... Remotely.. There were many ways to suspect a traitor within U.N.S.C Infinity, but he wouldn't rule that out just yet. The Didact might have found a way to malfunction his armor when he grabbed him, or a Promethean knight made it's way onto the Infinity. However, that didn't explain how it was being traced back to this exact same ship. He would search the Infinity for a source and to find out where the armor control setting station is and read through the use history.. But from observing the lights above and not seeing a glimmer, there was no power within the vessel... And due to the lack of power and remote connection, all of those ways were not going to work. After trying to form a plan, there's one way to access the same frequency that had deactivated and locked his armor. If he could gain access to the armor dock bay... if he could find it and see if there was any way to get the helmet off.

John turned around and picked up Sarah's assault rifle that laid on the floor and next to her discarded armor filled with her ashes. John examined the assault rifle and couldn't help but feel confused due to the oddness of its color and shape... As if it weren't real. Everything had happened so quickly in the span of an hour in John's perception that it was simply too much. He was beaten against the Didact, lost his team, more than likely lost the war, got everyone aboard the infinity killed, has a weird dream with a pair of talking purple eyes, and wakes up in the destroyed infinity in the middle of the ocean... And everything looked wrong.

Perhaps it was the planets atmosphere affecting him and making everything look as a colored drawing. Then again, the force of the impact could have caused hallucinations and this could only temporary.

Turning over to the corner, he walked over to the edge of the ripped floor of the Infinity and gazed out and looked around the metal edging of the once massive ship. It seemed from the looks of the metal the ship must have crashed into the ocean, skidded for a few hundred feet in the water, but do to the pressure from the speed and broke apart in two... But this was just an assumption based off of statistics and weight from the massive hull. Right now John was standing in a smaller section on the far right of the control deck... Now he had to locate the other half of the INFINITY and complete his tasks.

John walked over to the sliding door at the very end and waited for it to do as it was named after...

...

...

...

Of course he realized the ship lacked any power so the doors were sealed shut and would not open on command...

John sighed before wedging his fingers in between the doors cracks and began to pry it open with his bare strength. He gritted his teeth as the metal began creek under the applying pressure and slowly began to open inch by inch. John's hands were becoming sweaty and he was considering to take a moment to force it open with a single burst, but decided to take take his time. The metal door finally was open to about a 2 feet and John then put his elbow in between to force it open fully. He pushed one side of the door open, before forcing the other into the wall with two gazed down the metal hall outside the main deck before taking realization that he was completely alone on this ship.

He turned around to look at the pile of ashes of the former Thomas Lasky and couldn't help but feel something needed to be done. He was his captain and was their to lead the Didact along with admiral hood... In fact was the admiral on the ship during the composer's attack? Did he make it out alive? Or was he composed? Either way, John wouldn't know since there would be nothing left other than an ash pile and no way of knowing... This however made John feel sick.

He remembered what Lasky had told him 72 hours earlier after the first incident after Cortana had been destroyed. It really struck a deep chord inside him from his memory and continued to for every living second; like a repetitive click from a clock on the wall. Lasky was a brave and noble comrade who fought and led his soldiers to victory... Until his career was brought to a wretched end by the composer.

He looked at the pile of ashes on the floor before walking over to it and picking up Lasky's M6G magnum , and placing it over his ashes. He saluted to it before turning around and walking towards the long hallway...

**[35 minutes later]**

"_Great." _After walking for nearly for an hour the chief's calculations were correct..

The U.N.S.C INFINITY had broken in half.

Tears in the metal substituted his claim and considering the other half was nearly a couple kilometers away, and nearly 2,000 feet below making John look further to estimate the exact height.

...

...

...

Exactly 1,998 feet below, the Infinity is 2,734 ft high, and the water was currently covering 736 feet of the Infinity. He looked to the rippling ocean that lead to the engine deck and engineer. John was thankful the Infinity hadn't gone completely under water, this war ship was John only base that he had. If he hadn't he probably would have woken up under water. John needed to get to the armory and remove this helmet and find who locked his armor during the combat... It wasn't what needed to be done but HAD to be done.

Turning his heel he loomed over the edge calculating the height... before letting his body tumble over the edge, and gripped the ledge of the floor and swung onto the wall were his feet impacted before he began to slide down. He listened as his boots scraped against the metal as he leaned back and let his hand glide on the metal as well and saw the ocean below coming closer and closer. This was a standard slide down a steep hill in case it were to ever happen. Which did. But John needed to be careful. His armor was around a 1000 pounds and couldn't float, and he didn't know how deep in the ocean he was in... He would sink like a stone and drown with the hole in his visor letting water pour in.

Before he would impact the metal pieces below in the water, John pushed against the metal alloy frame and flew across almost 45 feet. The wind stung his eye causing him to close his one exposed eye and used the other one to look across and see that he was nearly at his destination. He reached forward with both hands and caught the other side of the ledge nearly bending the metal from the force of the impact. He grunted when he pulled himself over, and got a glimpse of the armory bay where all of the lights were shut off and hundreds of metal crates had slid to the other half of the massive corridor. John climbed over, stood up, and marched directly to a armor removal/set-up station and went directly to the front gate. He looked down at the small pad near the gate and pressed it in hope of some power..

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Yet again nothing. John pressed again and again to still get the conclusion. He deduced the impact of the crash had knocked the power, and the sea water was not really helping. He would now have to go to the back of the Infinity to the engines and restart the power manually... unfortunately he had no idea how to do that whatsoever. He was a Spartan 2 commando with basic knowledge of mathematics, geometry, slight history, major in engineering military hardware for repairs, some basic knowledge on health,basic anatomy, driving for nearly every vehicle in the UNSC, map reading, and how to assemble and disassemble a weapon to the exact factory setting... But restarting the largest supercarrier to the UNSC was way out of his league. He didn't know one anything on the ships schematics or the possible outcome of accidentally setting the ship on an alternate setting.

John growled before looking over at the control station where the tools were set from assembling, and disassembling the armor. He stepped over the short white gate and slowly walked over to the machine and looked at the tools on the floor. If memory served correct a certain type of drill was used to remove and tighten the helmet to the base of his skull. He looked on both sides noting that it was quite dark before deciding to switch his helmets lights on. With a click, they both came on lighting up his peripheral vision within a couple 70 feet in front of him. He looked on the floor and saw several armor pieces from previous spartan IV's that were unlucky enough to be caught in the composer's death ray's.

He looked around for any tool pieces, a drill of some sorts or possibly a power saw. He continued to look on the metal floor for any appliances that could aid him with his removal problem until he saw something against the wall .. It was what he was looking for...

A Drill.

Not just any drill, the same type used to tighten the advanced bolts in between holding the joints of the armor together. The bit on the end of the drill was the perfect match and hopefully ran on battery than electricity.

_"That luck of yours never seems to run out..." _Cortana's voice lingered in his mind from the memory of crash landing on Requiem... Turning that thought away, John walked over to it, reached down and grasped the handle. He lifted it eye level and observed it to see any wires connected to it. None. He then pulled the trigger and the drill let out a ring of a buzzing sound as the end piece spun.

"IT-IT-IT WOULD BE B-B-B-BETTER TO TURN THE POWER ON." Said an eerie voice. John spun around so quickly he dropped the drill and saw an orange flickering mini figure standing on a pedestal. He was in what looked like a WWII version of pilot clothes. His overall stature was flickering on and off, looking like he was malfunctioning. "I'M RLD 02054 R-R-R-ROLAND.. _(STATIC) _THE INFINITIES FORMER A.I." Roland said as he continued to de-fluctuate as the seconds rolled by.

"Former?" John questioned as he walked closer to the pedestal. He was glad that there was some piece of the UNSC that could give him some part of contact "Y-Y-Y-Yes... I was damaged severely from the force of the i-i-i-i-impact... Lucky me hu-h-h-h-h-h-u-h?" The malfunctioning AI joked before Master chief continued to stare at him. Roland slumped his shoulders before replying. "I won't be leaving the s-s-s-s-s-hip... Im going to deactivate with-i-i-i-i-i-i-in the next hour. When the Infinity first crashed on R-R-R-Requiem, it was d-d-d-d-estroyed. I was it's replacement."

"Is there anything I can do?" Like cortana's condition, John got a small twinge of nostalgia with hopelessness when roland told him of his condition.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-o... The crash did me in... I have to accept that..." Roland rebutted with a hint of detest. John looked around the area inside the ship and looked toward his left at the sunny outside. "Is there anyway you could restart the power to the Infinity?" John asked without looking, while considering the Infinity has been in the ocean for who knows how long he hoped the saltwater hadn't damaged the engine and the power too bad.

...

...

...

...

**VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM**

Like a city coming to life, all the lights lit up, and a strong vibration surged underneath John's feet signifying the power surging through the massive carrier. He looked up at the ceiling for a moment before looking back at Roland. "Thanks." The master chief thanked to the AI who shrugged his shoulder in return. John went back to the drill that he had dropped earlier and held it up the the side of his head near the exposed bolt. He pulled the trigger and the drill bit began to rapidly detach the bolt. He resumed the same action on the other side before the bolt became loose as well. He placed the drill on the floor before gripping the helmet on both sides with his hands.

"Halsey was r-r-r-r-ight... You are something special." Roland joked making chief halt his actions...

_Halsey..._

"Halsey... as in Catherine Halsey?" John questioned slowly as he turned around to the AI with an emotionless voice. Roland nodded before continuing. "Yeah, fr-o-o-o-om last I've heard she was in c-c-c-c-c-custody." Roland said before looking at chief again with more seriousness."There's also something i-i-i-i-important you've gotta know." Roland claimed as his color switched to pure white for a moment and his actions became erratic "Y-y-y-y-y-ou..." Roland fazed out for a moment and chief became increasingly anxious. John gripped the helmet and tugged lightly. The helmet caught on the back of his skin of his head when he pulled it. He slowly began to twist it and eventually began to slide off the damaged helmet. His HUD was offline, the base of it was cracked, and the only accessory that properly worked on it were the lights. Other than that it was obsolete...

Suddenly, Roland came to be once again before he started to static and flicker. "...W-w-w-were betrayed." Roland then finally revealed as John yanked his helmet off. Roland finally got a glimpse at John-117's face...

John had pale skin, nearly white as a ghost from constant years in his armor, blue hardened eyes from seeing constant bloodshed and tired from not getting a normal nights sleep in decades, a shaved head for standard of being a solider, a stone like jaw lacking any fat from constant vigorous training, and a few noticeable scars on top of his left eyebrow in a downward jagged line. His eyes were shadowed from the light above but you could clearly see them gleam in the dark. He was staring at the helmet that had been on his head for almost 16 hours after the first Didact incident and rolled his thumb over the cracked hole on the visor. To him this helmet symbolized defeat... But it would be a constant reminder to never get caught by Didact like that ever again. Even though it had only been 20 minutes since it all happened John's mind was racing.

"Betrayed?" John questioned not looking up but not truly knowing the feeling of the word. He had a feeling something was off. While John knew the word, he was not familiar of it being used to him before. Never in his life had someone openly stab him in the back, let alone attempt to kill him from within the U.N.S.C. But maybe it wasn't true. He didn't have a single negative leaving on anyone within O.N.I, or the Infinity. In fact, he was nearly given the title of Admiral, by the admiral himself. So another option could have been a malfunction... But a malfunction in his armor was irrelevant to him. He had worn his armor for a decade and it had never failed him... Not even once. It was like his personal solitude, his armor locking on him was like saying the Didact was a pacifist... It didn't add up.

"Yeah, betrayed, stabbed i-i-i-n the back, sell out, kiss and tell, unmasked, double cross, bambo-o-o-ozled, you were-

"I get it..." John cut him off feeling a slow build up of bewilderment and anxiety. Someone would intentionally kill him and his team resulting in the Didact winning... But who? John went over to the armor placement bench and placed his destroyed helmet on the table, in time for repairs in the future. Since he was without one good helmet he would need to either destroy it due o the wire damage and visor, or try his best to replace it. He stood still for a moment rething over what he was doing... Before he looked back at Roland with a side glance and finally asked the question that was currently eating him alive.

"Who?"

Roland placed his hands behind his back and finally revealed who was the culprit.

"It was Del Rio."

John felt his lower lip clench and his hands tightened around the edge of the metal bench. Del Rio... The former captian of probably the largest man made craft ever built would intentionally kill his own troops after he left John on requiem to die...Del rio was responsible for his teams demise... and the fate of the universe now...How could one man decide the end of the galaxy like that? How could he? A leading captain of the U.N.S.C turn against his own race like that in a matter of hours? John had only known one deserter in the Spartan-2 program. His details were sketchy, but his name was Soren-066. He was brought into the Spartan-2 program as a child after his mother died brutally from his father's psychological problems. He was given the regular spartan-2 augmentations... But sadly he was one of the few to suffer from the risks of its dangerous procedure. He killed the doctors within the room before being arrested, claimed unfit for duty, and branded as mentally insane. He escaped before breaking into a major office and had stolen confidential documents and begun selling them to the insurgents. Eventually he was caught, but he escaped. He crashed on Reach during the covenant invasion... But a body or him for that matter was never found that day. Leaving his fate unknown to this very day.

"The former captain?" John questioned without giving Roland so much as a glance as he stared down at the metal table with his smashed helmet.

"Y-y-y-yes... That FORMER cap-p-p-tain...He wasn't caught in the composers blast though, he managed to set your armor to lock within 2 hours before use and u-u-u-used an escape po-o-o-o-od." The nearly dead AI said as he continued to flicker.

"He escaped?" John asked as he averted his full attention to Roland holding a new helmet with a glistening orange visor. Roland nodded making John furrow his eyebrows.

Del Rio... Responsible for humanities likely genocide had escaped on his own accord letting every occupant of the infinity to meet a horrible end... That made John's inside turn. If he was this deranged to wipe out the chief in exchange for nearly causing extinction to the human race, who knows what Del Rio was capable of. John's thought of Captain Del Rio was sour. He had held a professional level of respect for him, but after several snide and belligerent comments toward the only answer to earths attack, John gave Del Rio his thought of the matter with only two... Simple... Words...

_"No sir."_

Never in his life had John indirectly disobeyed orders. Cortana was literally everything to him... He had no family, no friends, no nothing... She was the only one there during almost everything that had happened in the last 7 years... He would disobey anyone for her any-day...

"Then we need to get in contact with The office of Naval intelligence... We have to plan for defensive measures when the didact arrives." John said as he placed the new helmet on over his head. " I'm afraid it won't be that easy chief." Roland said with a slight static at the end of of his sentence.

John stopped what he was doing and gave Roland his full attention. Roland straightened his posture and said. "We're in an u-u-u-unknown part of the solar system where I-i-i-i can't get a signal to any co-o-o-olonies." Was Roland's broken reply with a nervous glance. John however took in the information as he tightened the last screw into the side, and observed the are for any nearby weapons. "Then we'll... " He paused nearly forgetting that Roland was going to expire within the hour "... I have to look for help then. Are there any Pelicans ready for launch in the docking bay?" John asked trying to remember where the docking bay was and hoping that it was still functional. He wasn't sure of leaving one of the largest pieces of military hardware in the ocean... But he really had no choice. It was either do or die... And he would choose his way.

"Is-is-is-is-is-is there anythin-g-g-g-g-g-g I can d-d-d-d-d-d-o?" Roland pressed seeming to be wanting to think of something else. John meanwhile shook his head and began to walk toward the near end of the opening in the infinity. He looked back at Roland and said. "Thanks, for everything." Roland nodded and John quickly began to ascend the hull of the Infinity by climbing by cracks and bumps in the metal to the upper floor... Leaving the AI to his fate less than 40 minutes...

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><p><strong>[47 minutes laterLaunching Bay]**

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><p>John had located the docking bay which hadn't been severely damaged. Many vehicles had shifted toward the left of the ship when it began to sink. But the infinity had countermeasures in case it were to force field that had kept all the housed vehicles came back to life with only wire damage on the left side. The vehicles which ranged from hundreds of hundreds of Pelicans, hornets, warthogs, puma's, a couple of M312 elephants, 2 M510 mammoths, 6 M808B scorpions, 17 manti's and almost an unlimited supply of ammunition... But that was sugar coating it. Eveything was all over the place, it looked like a bomb went off. Everything he had lsited is what he saw, and it would take him weeks to move it all out and do recall.. John had prepared a plan to mount the G79H-TCMA Pelican and locate any signs of civilization and try to contact O.N.I and tell them of the current situation before it was too late...

John had finished moving several of the Pelicans to their respectable places and got a view of a mantis shining brightly by the massive wall on the far end of the bay. John then selected his pelican and opened the hatch, emitting a sharp hiss from it. He mounted inside the pelican, strapped his seatbelts gaining "clicks", and started the engines by flipping the appointed switches from memory. The pelican came to life as John felt the engines hum with a powerful burst... But while John was preparing the engines he couldn't help but remember that dream he had with the pair of talking purple eyes... Right after everything happened.

"_pillar of prophecy..." _John remembered from the dream... Now he would have dreams from time to time, this dream had really no significance to him whatsoever. First he's told of a child, next he's told of some prophecy, then he wakes up on an unknown planet looking... weird. John assumed he was suffering from the effects from the composer ray knocking him out again... W

That ray wan an absolute fear to him now... He loathed the mention of that ray. Even though he was immune it was a cowards way out while everyone around him perished in the most unimaginable way possible... It some ways it reminded him of the flood and it's grueling way of turning people into nothingness... He had to thank the Liberian for letting him live though... But he knew that was impossible. Because when he got back to earth...

He would rip the Didact's head off... Slowly

John looked down at the controls in frustration since he was left with so many problems and so little resources to work with... And no hope... It was his job to defend humanity, yet he failed to do so...

John sharpened his gaze toward the opening force field in front of him leading to the unknown planet...

**VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM**

With a push of a clutch, the Pelican's hover booster activate emitting a blue flame from the engines making the pelican lift off the metal flooring bay discharging the ferocious sound. The pelican than surged forward through the force field. The pelican surged through the air taking in more altitude. John observed the sky noting it still looked vivid as ever making John feel uneasy. He steered the Pelican a few degrees toward the left to get a better view of what had become of the the infinity and may have hopes of repairs... If that sounded crazy.

It was indeed broken in half. Torn metal, hundreds of bits of steel alloy crowded the water but didn't float off. There were engine pieces embedded in the side hull as the ocean current rippled against the side. The Infinity was meant to be earth's last line of defense in case the covenant or promethean invasion...But now it was John's current base for the moment until he could locate a signal to the UNSC. John lifted up the pelican over the clouds and made his first destination toward south, where he could slightly see land... But it was miniscule. It was however the closest point he could get to at the moment so it would have to do...

And just like that, The pelicans engines screamed and John flew off... Toward the Unknown.

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><p><strong>TOO BE CONTINUED<strong>

**AUTHORS NOTE: And here is chapter 2 everyone, I hope this was sufficient enough. Now I will say it again, please send a message in what you would like to see. If it doesn't divulge to the point where it impacts the entire story, I will put it in. If it does, then I will have to kindly put down the offer.**

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**Now I've been getting a few questions of when master chief will meet the Naruto characters... Well he won't for a while... Reason? If you read the Trailer/Teaser to this story your questions will be answered. That is all I have to say.**

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**Also, John will have limited resources to the story, as in he won't be made god-like smart or be like batman with his utility belt.**

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**Please leave a Review/Constructive criticism/ or idea... They're needed. Any flamer will be ignored and will receive a **_**very **_**enlightening message from me as well... So yeah.**

**-****Guten Tag an alle**


	3. The Ensuring conflict revealved

**AUTHORS NOTE: I have some bad news everyone... After about 3 hours of searching through my files I lost my story planner! I was so enraged I nearly through my computer. Anyway, that doesn't mean I'll be giving up the story but updates won't come daily...**

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**I really appreciate the reviews and the likes, they make me very happy and keep the story rolling at full pace. I understand I made a mistake with not mentioning the master chief's immunity to the composer, and for that I sincerely apologize. I promise to double check all of my knowledge and will gracelessly take constructive criticism. Now I'm going to try and make the chapters longer and hope to get into some more deeper conflict since we've started the story at a slow pace. It gets more recognition and attention with longer chapters, am I right?**

**0~0**

**Also I just read the final chapter to Naruto ever... And I have to say... Is that I was shocked..But deeply happy... And seriously pissed off since an author of this site spoiled it AND ,YES IM TALKING ABOUT YOU AUTHOR!**

**(Deep breath)**

**Well It was a great ride through the years and one hell of a memorable adventure. I won't forget all the shocking conclusions to the story and wont forget the memories... Everything ends eventually...**

**0~0**

**Anyway, time for the disclaimer cus I'll be sued blah blah blah...**

**So yeah...**

**0~0**

**DISCLAIMER/ HALO BELONGS TO 343 INDUSTRIES WHICH BELONGS TO MICROSOFT THAT IS OWNED BY BILL GATES. NARUTO BELONGS TO KISHIMOTO MASASHI...**

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><p>"<em>Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime."<em>

-Ernest Hemingway

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><p>Chapter 3: The Ensuing conflict revealed<p>

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><p>John payed close attention to the overall surroundings of the sky, taking mental notes as he traveled above the endless clouds. He had repeatedly tried to get a signal from any type.. Only to be met with static on the other end. He couldn't see below him, and he had to be cautious since he could be traveling in a no fly zone. The insurgents had still caused problems even in his later career and could very well be on this planet keeping it as a base... But he couldn't get ahead of himself at a time like this... It was too brash to think that far ahead and unprofessional. He had to maintain his thought process and calculate another approach to deal with the current situation. Earth's last stand against the Didact was a failure thanks to Del Rio for committing such a heinous act... John would never admit to this since it would be YET another act of insubordination... But he wished he could have ended Rio when he decided to leave him on Requiem.<p>

John paid close attention to the radar making sure he wasn't being tailed or locked on. He had observed the radio frequencies within miles but couldn't get anything to respond. It was almost as if no one was on this planet. Could that be the case? Could this planet truly be devoid of all life? In some cases master chief would never be as observant, but when you go through so much in less than a week, it will give you a new insight to everything. His mission was not over... Not by a long shot.

Looking down at the controls and buttons, John still couldn't get over the overall color and shading of everything. He then turned his attention back to the radar and saw he was quickly approaching land beneath the clouds. Taking the intuitive to lower his altitude, John began decreasing the strength of the engine and switched to hover mode. He lifted a small plastic panel on the lft hand side and pressed the blue button, making the Pelican halt, before rapidly descending from an altitude of 6000 ft and lowered directly into the cloud. If stayed dark inside the cockpit for almost eternity save for the buttons that lit up the tiny room. While John wasn't afraid of the dark after hundreds of missions involving diving into dark trenches, he was rather skeptical of what he was in for. Those purple eyes from Hagoromo continued to linger in his mind... But Cortana's memory was stronger.

In fact, he just remembered something that changed everything from his mission to save his true friend. Remembering earlier from Roland's description, Halsey was in custody to O.N.I... Meaning she was never on earth in the first place... This made John feel a whole new level of regret. His destination was directly towards earth, and to top it all off why was Halsey in custody. John never questioned his recruitment in the UNSC. He found the opportunity interesting and took the chance. While he may not remember his family, or home, or even his real last name, he would never forget who he was...

A Spartan...

A Spartan...

...

...

...

But he was left with the biggest question to his concluding problems. His sense of what he was...

Man, someone with choice and reason...

Or machine... Destined to follow a certain pattern or order without fault.

He was so in tune in thought he realized he was nearly toward the ground since he could slightly see grayish mist outside of the windows. He was currently at 120 feet above ground level and continuing to rapidly lower. John flipped a switch which halted the Pelicans lowering gauge and stopped in it in mid air, to get a visual of the land for the first time.

There was a very thick dense fog surrounding the area and he could slightly make out mountains in the distance. The mist was so thick it became hard to see anything. He could make out very tall rocky hills with shrubs and moss covering them... He could also make out small fires in the distance next to... What looked like tall thin buildings covered in vegetation with windows. This was all John needed to see before fully setting the Pelican into landing. Thoughts were rolling through his mind on how to approach the matter... His first order of business was to locate some type of police force and hopefully get in contact with his superiors to give out a full report of the Infinities destruction and Captain Lasky's death.

The Pelican finally touched the wet soft ground and sank an inch or two in the mud. The engines shut down for the first time in an hour, and it was beginning to be around mid-afternoon considering the time frame. John unclasped his seatbelt before turning his radar on once more to see if anyone was around that could be of assistance. He looked on the white screen analyzing it for any lifeforms... Be it friend or foe...

In a matter of seconds hundreds of life signatures were detected approximately 400 yards east behind the odd shaped buildings. John took this as the green light as he opened the hatch, and stepped out before observing the area around him... He was currently in a vast area of mud and dirt with lots of fog surrounding him. He also took notice of scorch marks around rocks. He quickly shut the Pelicans hatch before walking over to a rock and observing it... Something shiny caught his eye next to him. He looked down before seeing what looked like a straight knife embedded in the soft moist ground. He reached over for it, clasping it around the handle before holding it eye level. The blade was straight, around 8 inches long, had leather around the grip, a single opening at the very end, and had a pointed diamond shape for the blade. It was made out of some sort of lightweight metal that chief couldn't identify... There was also blood around the grip of the blade. This did not look good in chiefs mind...

Chief dropped the knife before standing straight up and looking back toward his original destination toward the straight buildings in the distance... He looked back at his ship for a moment before deciding to grab anything useful in case the foreigners were hostile. He walked back to the right back part of the ship and opened a black hatch with a "WHOOSH". Inside were a BR85HB battle rifle, a MA5C assault rifle, a M90A assault shotgun, a M739 light machine gun, and M41 SSM Jackhammer rocket launcher, along with anti-tank grenades and a detonator charge. John clipped the M6H PDWS magnum toward his right thigh on the clasp, replaced his MA5D assault rifle with a BR85HB battle rifle/scope to get a better accuracy in the dense fog in case of hostiles. He took 2 anti-tank grenades and clipped them on the right side of his waist while shutting the weapons box on the Pelican and locking it, making sure no one got into it. He stepped backwards, turned toward the city in the distance, and began walking towards it in hope. His mind was set on only one goal.

Get in contact with ONI...

It was his prime directive and nothing would stand in its way no matter what.

John then disappeared in the dense fog...

And was about to regret that decision.

**[35 minutes later]**

After almost half an hour of walking had made chief observe all of his surroundings in the area. There were plenty of shrines around an strange symbols on them. He tried to decipher them from memory but couldn't remember anything related toward them. He thought first it was covenant or now storm language... But he casted that theory out. He couldn't jump to conclusions too quickly now. All he needed to do was find the UNSC... And that was final...

John continued walking through the damp soil and began seeing shapes within the mist... Those shapes became houses several yards away from his current position. He also saw a thick forest next to said houses, providing excellent cover in case of the weather. John stepped closer to the house until he noticed something was off. He saw he was currently stepping in what looked like a small town... But it looked completely deserted, and lacked citizens. Buildings and what looked like homes lined the cobblestone road were more than less in shape due to the cracks and several massive chunks falling off. John walked over to one building to investigate it and saw the front door had been blown off the hinges. He stepped past a window and studied the building. It was made of some sort of clay, with a regular green wooden roof, windows, and a simple door... That was blasted into since the wood was forcibly ripped. John grasped his battle rifle and switched his helmets lights on... But when he looked on the wooden porch he was standing on he saw something that made him on high alert...

Blood.

John saw a trail leading inside the house... He took note of setting the safety off his rifle before deciding to follow it. He stepped inside the dark house and since the lights were off, no one could see...Except him. He looked around the room and saw furniture flipped over, lights were shattered, and there were cracks in the walls... and saw a corpse in the middle of the room. He stepped carefully forward and looked down at the man. He was face down on the floor with a pool of blood that had formed around his back. When chief paid closer analysis to the mans back... He saw what looked like needles sticking out. John kneeled down and carefully plucked one of the needle that held a drip of blood that fell off. The needle was for a type of penetration, that is what he could deduce for the moment. But it looked as if it were thrown manually since there were no burn marks. John thought it was crazy for a moment since this person who killed this man hit a very vital part in the man's spine...

He turned the man over and saw the man had bruises over his eyes, and several scratches with dry blood, indicating he was fighting. He wore a simple garb and a dark vest with small pouches. But what stuck out about him the most was a metal head band wrapped around his forehead. It was a piece of stainless steel with four tilted markings and several almost invisible small chips in the metal along with mini scratches. John didn't know what they meant but buried it in the back of his mind. He then stood up and away from the corpse before observing the home.

There was a cream colored carpet on the floor with splotches of blood on it making John tense. He deduced this house was owned by a family considering he saw pictures on the wall and some on the floor but were shattered...There must have been a fight in here, and considering the corpse on the floor somebody one... But out of observing the simplicities of the entire room with everything livable...John didn't see a scrap of anything technology related anywhere... This home lacked any proper air conditioning from looking at the ceiling, the light fixtures were something that belonged in a museum... And from glancing over the counter and into the kitchen, there was a simple oven and stove...

But everything looked so behind the current time...

John walked over to the photo's on the floor and stepped on the crushed glass turning it to dust under his massive weight. He bent over and picked up the photo underneath the broken glass and observed it. In it was a simple looking family. A man and a woman smiling while pushing a small boy on a swing. John looked at the photo for a moment longer before noticing the man on the floor looked similar to the man in the photo...

He must have had a connection to the house...

He dropped the photo before picking up something on his scanner. From 16 feet behind him outside the house, someone was rapidly approaching. John let the photo fall from his hand before standing straight toward the door. He needed answers and he needed them now. Waiting for the newcomer didn't take long. The person who came through the door was someone in gray garb, a grey jacket vest with pockets, sandals, a white bandage wrapped around his thigh, and the same headband with 4 lines. He had black with soft skin tone. Chief walked forward and said in a full authoritative tone.

"Halt." The man looked up and saw a towering man in armor holding an odd object. His eye's widen in disbelief before he stumbled back. He stumbled back a bit before roaring. _"__Dare ga anata odeari, anata wa koko de nani o shite iru!?"_ John stopped at his words, not being able to understand it. It mentally through him off for a few seconds. He decided to say something without thinking. "I'm Spartan-117 of the UNSC and I nee-

John never finished as the man lunged forward with a kunai.

John's reflexes kicked in and he sidestepped the men's blade, but the man twirled the dark knife before attempting to lunge it at chief. Chief swung his hand up and gripped the man's small arm before looking at the man in the face and threatening. "This is a warning, drop it or I'll be forced to retaliate." This hit deaf ears as the man attempted to chop at chiefs neck, but chief let the chop hit him taking it. The man roared as he felt a massive pain form on his arm from attempting to injure the armored giant, but failing miserably. John decided to end this before this man brought reinforcements. He let the man go before unclipping his battle rifle and lifting it toward the mans head. "This is your fina-

The man's right hand went down toward a pouch behind him. That was John's final warning...

**BANG!**

The left part of the mans chest exploded and he flew back impacting the wall. His face went from pained filled to calm as he slid down the wall, creating a massive blood trail down the chalk white paint. His bottom hit the floor before slumping over on his right side, taking his final breath before expiring. The barrel of chiefs gun was still smoking as he observed the man he just killed. It had been years since John had taken the life of a human, but not his first. Early in his career he fought against humans in a group called the insurgents...But he had spent the last decade fighting against Covenant, the flood, and the prometheans. He never fought against killing. But he simply had to. No matter the options. He never disagreed with it, or liked it. But took the shot. He heard a shuffle behind him and he turned quickly, but saw nothing...

_Strange..._

"_JIN wa, okyakusama ni arimasu?!__"_ A voice through the door called. John saw on his HUD someone appear along with 5 other blimps. He began to slowly pace against the wall and hoped to cover some ground and head into the forest. His scanners were beginning to to pick up more and more presence now. Johns mind meanwhile was trying to assess the situation. He had just killed someone with enhanced speed in self defense, and he wasn't alone. His gun had given out his location when he shot it off... Crap.

John turned his head toward the right and saw a dark hallway with no light except for down the hall. He walked calmly as possible toward the hall before coming down it, then keeping his aim up and began walking slowly. He made it toward the end of the hall before spotting a window at the very end of the right side. He sped walked to it making noise from the creaking floor. _"__Ie o kakuninshitekudasai, __Suna no partol wa karera ga tsukamu koto ga dekiru nanika o scavege tame ni koko ni narimasu." _John still didn't understand the language these people spoke but the voice came directly from outside the house. John had two options... And it was run or fight. He didn't know what the policy was to this nation, but he was already in a heap of trouble for killing one of their men. Even if it was UNSC regulations of killing an unarmed attacker, it would create more trouble for Johns case.

He could hear the footsteps on the front wooden porch now as it got closer... And closer... John reached down toward the right side of his waist for an-anti tank grenade before holding it in his right hand and his rifle in his left. He inserted his finger through the ring as he felt the air become completely silent... His new plan was to defend himself if necessary, and make a break to his pelican... This simple search mission became a live or-

**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!**

The house shook violently and John nearly dropped his grenade with his thumb still in the ring. Dust rained from the ceiling and landed on chief's armor. John dropped down in a crouch after hearing yelling outside_. "Sono machibuse!" _Followed by grunts and the sound of metal cutting flesh... Then there was the sound of flowing water...and the sound of a tidal wave hit the house. John looked down before seeing water running down the floor boards and around his feet. This was not as surprising as a barrage of star shaped shuriken flew through the window behind him and embedded themselves in the hit chief on the shoulder and bounced off harmlessly. John stood up and took cover next to the window before activating his scanner.

_25 hostiles... Now 24._

_6 on the right side behind some of the homes, 1 upstairs and 5 down. 12 on the opposite side of them and about to engage them. Finally 8 spreading toward this house..._

John peaked by the edge and got a glimpse of a flaming explosion that shook the home he took cover in. Memories of the war spurred in John's head and he got the feeling he had stumbled upon either a dispute between neighbors, an attack by foreigners since their language he couldn't understand... Or a war. John knew the last option was to become involved with foreign affairs since this was none of his business. He tried to calculate a route and objective in case the foreign nation took notice of him... But something was very wrong with this planets battle. Where were the sounds of guns? While some battles had silenced weapons or even the sound of plasma blasters going off chief didn't hear anything in the slightest...That explosion didn't even sound like a grenade. It sounded home made. John however stopped this thought when the same shaped blade came whizzing through the air, making a cutting sound, and hit the wall next to him. This knife looked the same from the one earlier he had found in the mud, and this time it had a note attached to it.

John couldn't read it but decided to ignore it... How bad of an idea that was...

The note began to smoke before starting to flash like a sparkler, John took this as a warning before taking several steps back and take cover. But the blade began to sparkle uncontrollably this time before it was too late...

**BOOOOM!**

If John didn't have a death wish, he would've killed himself at the thought of an exploding piece of paper. The force of the explosion threw John like a ragdoll through the sheet like plaster walls before he flew outside and landed in the mud sinking slightly. John's armor dwindled from the flaming explosion power, but not the flames. John shrugged of the bomb that nearly blew him up before sitting up and seeing the unknown men in similar outfits walking toward the destroyed house_." Kono basho de sunata anata wa kanarazu soko ni imasu ka?" _John still didn't know what these men were saying... Although he had heard the language before somewhere. John decided to stand very still while letting the men pass him into the home. He looked at his scanner again and saw all the passers were all directly on the left of him several yards away. If he could keep a low profile, he might be able to slip past them and toward his Pelican. John lifted his armored hands out of the mud, and secured his rifle... His rifle... John reached behind him for his battle rifle but grabbed nothing. He must have dropped it inside the house when he was caught in the bombs blast. John made sure his grenades were secure. They were, and he reached for his M6 magnum on his side but felt nothing. He looked toward the lower left and saw it sank into the mud. John dipped his hand in the think mud and grabbed it, before pulling it out. He stepped up in a kneeling position before seeing mud got in the barrel of his magnum. It could still properly function but the bullets wouldn't be as accurate or could possibly veer off course. John looked up back at the house approximately 46 feet from his sitting position. He was skeptical of leaving his weapon behind since they could find it...and track it to him. He thought his overall incognito nature was at his best since no one had seen him, minus that one inside the house... But he couldn't travel without it...

Ever so slowly, John stood up out of the mud, clipped the magnum to his thigh, and heard more explosions in the distance while seeing orange glows within the mist. He could see more blimps appear directly in front of him on his HUD scanner and coming in rather quickly. John quickly ran to the side of the home and leaned near a good portion of the wall. He leaned toward the left to see if he could catch a glimpse of his battle rifle, but all he got was the sight of rubble from the walls and foundry. He deduced it must have blasted off within the house, so it must have been inside. The looked at his scanner and saw the men were around 15 meters forward and continuing to move on in the opposite direction. John took this as the clear, and jumped up over the wall and into the house. His feet pressed against nothing but broken board, rubble and glass. John looked through where he was exactly when the note exploded... Until he remembered he could activate a weapons tracer by inputting the serial number. Based upon memory from picking the weapon up, the helmet located ID11121227.. . Exactly 3 paces toward his left.

John looked toward his left and saw his battle rifle sitting in another room beyond the entrance under a piece of wood. John stepped over towards it and reached for it. He clasped it before noticing...Two people were only a few yards behind him in town. _"Dakara nokomminkan hito ga arimasu ka?"_ A woman's voice said in the distance, _"Īe, karera wa korosa re tari baikyaku sa reta."_ John dropped down in cover before remembering a window was behind him, giving him a runnings chance to escape from the men and women fighting... It was getting too heated in this area. _"Chotto sonomonoda!"_ a male voice called getting closer to chiefs location... John mentally prepared himself for a fight since he began seeing more blimps appear. _"Karera wa torakku no yōnimieru! Jissai ni wa insatsubutsu no tame no ningen!"_ John could hear the voice right outside the house now. He quickly made his way over to the window... But stepped on the glass from the window and caused it to crack under his weight... John saw the HUD scanner move slightly blurry and all the blimps disappeared... Only for the HUD scanner to recapture it...

They were right above him.

John whirled around only to see the expressions of two men and one woman. The woman had dark brown hair, brown eyes, wore a light tan outfit that was skin tight, brown boots, a headband with a strange marking on it like an hourglass. The two men looked at the spartan with wonder as well as shocking alarm. The first man was slightly built, had brown hair as well only with gray eyes, a dark vest with a red sash, black pants, black sandals, and a sleeveless shirt. The last man had a dirty blond hair color with a gray shirt, blue sandals, and tank thick pants. John's mental alert was high and his arms became stiff..Waiting for the first move. _"Dono yōna jigoku wa, to iu kotodesu! Soreha... Otoko no yōnimieru." _The first man yelled making John wish he knew what he was speaking. The second man scanned over John before unsheathing a long sword from his thigh, signaling John he was going to attack. _"Jokyo sa renakereba naranai shūtai..." _He jumped down with a high strike and JOhn was about to retaliate before he saw his scanner... No one was there. He let the man swing down on top of John...

And he passed right through him... John saw someone coming from behind on his scanner and spun quickly. He saw the man who had attacked earlier was right behind him with a knife rushing at him. John raised his battle rifle and let the bullets ring through the mist filled valley.

**BANGBANGBANG!**

The man had no idea what had hit him... But whatever it was it felt like a massive heated punch. He was hit in the stomach doubling him over, the leg causing him to kneel, and the head making blood spray from behind and causing his eyes to roll back before landing on his back in the mud. John turned around to hear something quickly, like a yell. But he couldn't make it out. But all of a sudden he was nearly thrown off his feet by a massive gust of wind that screamed past his head. John kept his feet firmly placed and stuck in the mud. He looked closer and saw the woman was blowing the wind out of her mouth...

"What the?" John whispered out loud not understanding what he was seeing. This woman was spewing a torrent of air that could rival a jet taking off at full blast. Not only was this humanly impossible, but went against all physics themselves all together. John didn't know what to until the torrent of wind stopped and the woman and man looked at him with narrowed eyes. John raised the shot and took it at the man who was struck in the throat. He quickly fell to the ground grasping his neck hoping to stop the flow of blood. The woman widened her eyes and screamed. John pulled his foot out of the mud and saw the woman begin to do something with her hands. She kept her hands moving in almost super speed, but John could follow her motions due to his augmentations. John took a few steps back and stood calmly waiting to see what happened...

The woman yelled violently with rage filled expression. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"" She took a massive huff filling her lungs making her chest heave in impossible proportion until...

_She blew fire... Not just fire... But a massive ball of flames..._

The flaming ball flew over to John like a comet who let it pass over him. He couldn't see anything for a few seconds as the flames engulfed his body. It was so bright he nearly closed his eyes from the intesnse brightness. But due to the helmets adjustable brightness based on the light perception, John was able to see everything happen before him... But after 4 seconds of nothing but pure bright orange and yellow flames dancing across his armor until...

It stopped... Making John blink softly behind the orange visor. He saw the land in front and around was scorched black and turned the mud into hard burnt ground. The woman was twelve feet away with a perplexed expression... How did this thing survive almost 3000 degrees with nothing so much as a burn? She stared at him a minute longer before saying out loud aggressively, completely drained of chakra. "Anata wa nani...Desu ka?" She sat next to her dead comrade who was still losing blood and sputtering. John didn't answer since he couldn't, but was deciding whether to kill her or not. She looked dangerously fatigued and about ready to pass out and would be merciful to put her out of her misery... So with a steady grip, John leveled his attack rifle, and was about ready to pull the trigger when... John saw something out of the corner of his eye. A silver line racing until-

**SHINK!**

The side of the woman neck was pieced by a silver needle, causing her to erupt in a fit of gags and blood to run down her neck as she choked and tasted her own blood pool in her mouth. John saw blimps appear on his HUD and saw a similar man from earlier appear out of no where from a puff of smoke in a second. The women fell to the ground still gasping for air. She reached over with her blood covered hand and touched the face of her ally... Before closing his eyes. The woman didn't notice the man behind her reached for a blade in a pouch, kneel down next to her... And stabbed her. Yet again, another man appeared in a puff of smoke. John was growing in question as he continued to see life defying things happen. He had seen a massive worms negotiate with him in the destruction of the Halo ring, seen a god awakened and defeat him, alien genocide, machine planets, infected marines from the flood, and survival resulting in his life flashing before his eye on numerous occasion... But everything in the he had seen in the last 3 hours was beginning to take a toll on his mind. Everything that had happened was too much... John didn't notice the group of twenty or more men and women all wearing similar outfits appear behind him... They all shared the same headband with 4 identical lines.

He didn't turn around but heard one of them say. _"Nanisore?" _John had enough, he was leaving this place for good. In most ways he would blast his ways through and kill anyone who attacked him, but do to seeing unexplained phenomena events was making John rethink his strategy. He needed to obtain some information of what he had seen.

He took a few steps in the hardened burnt mud making it crumple, and began walking toward the direction of his Pelican...

...Until someone ran in front of him._ "Soshite doko ni anata ga iku to omoimasu ka? _The thin man with light blue hair that looked filthy and unkempt, with blue eyes, and wearing a dark blue coat going down to his knees, a metal headband, black sandals said as he placed a hand on John's chest trying to halt him. John looked down on the hand that pressed against his chest and said something low...

"Dont touch me." He didn't care anymore since no one could understand him. He needed answers but was left with thousands of more questions of what he had seen. The man had a puzzled look not understanding what the green giant just said. The words sounded alien to him. _"Anata wa shōkante imasu ka?" _John walked forward knocking the man off his feet and continued to walk toward his location. He needed to find a database of some sorts and figure out information of this world... Or better yet get off it entirely. John was so in tune that he didn't hear the sound of rapid wind cutting. He heard someone yell _"Genjutsu: Misuto"..._

That's when John noticed a sudden fog took around him... And faces could be seen in the fog forming... Next he could see demonic faces with pointed fangs and pointy ears appearing turning into the colors of hell. They began to grow forming more demonic visage and John could see nothing but the faces, and skulls grinning at him with their naked and bare pointy teeth... But while this was all happening all he could do was read his scanner and see... Nothing in front of him, but only behind. There was no damage coming to his body from the front, but several of the men from earlier were closing in behind him. John reached for a grenade and plucked the ring emitting a "CLING". He waited a moment before surprising the people behind him by turning his back at the devilish formations. He equipped his magnum, took aim, and took three shots at the group who jumped back in shock. _"Kare wa dono yō ni genjutsu o tōshite watashitachi o mite iru!"_

**BANG! BANG! BANG!**

One man was unlucky and got caught on the side of the head making his head turn while half of his brains splashed out. Another met a similar fat and got him in the shoulder making him spin and hit the ground. The last man was hit in the dead center of his chest making him fly back and hit the ground. There were yelling and screams, before all the men sped out of there in speeds that made John lose their track of them almost instantly... But no one could outrun his HUD scanner.

_**HUD: Target approaching from right... and left**_

John looked toward his right and saw a man with a long thin sword swing at him. John blocked it with his battle rifle and a clang rang through the misty valley. The man tried to side kick chief in the side, but he caught it and elbowed the man in the face making it cave in. John through a chop in reverse action with his battle rifle behind, the second man ducked and tried to plunge a knife in John's stomach, but the knife simply chipped against the titanium alloy covering. The man was forced to try and defend himself by holding his arms up, but was knocked off his feet and got both arms broken from the titanium alloy strike.

_**HUD: Target approaching from behind...**_

John retaliated by lightly shoving the man on the chest making him stumble back from the brutish strengh, before taking a lethal shot at his chest.

**BANG!**

He fell smacking the mud while gagging on blood.

John then saw someone appear on his scanner from behind, he turned to see two identical people charging at him while walking on the water. They began performing rapid hand signs until.

**"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!"**

A powerful torrent of water made John fall back and begin to roll backwards in the mud. He attempted to stand up-

**BOOOOOM!**

-but felt a powerful force knock him out of the water equivalent to an explosion. John flew through the like a rag doll but making sure to keep a vice grip on his battle rifle. He tried to maneuver himself in the air since everything was moving too fast and he began seeing the same two identical men.

But his scanner only picked up the live one on the left. Taking this as a trick, John tried to position himself while in air to keep his memory based on when he would turn to the right direction to take the shot... but instead landed in the mud in a kneeling position, making him sink in. He quickly raised his rifle, fired at the left man standing making him clutch his chest in agony. "_Kare ga daun shite iku node wanai! !" _He wheezed out before falling forward bleeding out...

Surprisingly... The right identical man faded away like he was never there. John jumped up ripping himself out of the mud, when he felt something spin around his leg. He looked down to see a silver threat that was tightly wrapped around his right thigh. He looked at the end of the string to see a man tugging on it... But failing. John looked at his scanner and saw this man wasn't really there. As if he had no life signature. John deduced he must have been some sort of animatronic life like robot... Or his scanner was malfunctioning.

John felt another rapid wrap around his left arm and saw another wire had wrapped around his wrist.

An on his right.

Then his leg...

Overall there were 31 men and women in the area looking at him in bewilderment. None of them knew what they had caught. It would be a surprise to the 2nd Mizukage, and hopefully some leverage to the war.

There were several from the left, the rightmost were in front and some were behind...

John was surrounded...

...

...

...

That wouldn't stop him though.

John swung both his arms together yanking the men off their feet with ease. He could easily bend steel let alone pull two middleweight men like they were styrofoam. John shot at the woman while yanking on the wire wrapped at his leg and saw that she had turned into a puff of smoke... Then into a log that splashed into the mud with a bullet hole.

John was beginning to question this planets physics.

_"Holograms?" _John thought as he seemed to try and understand how these people were able to appear and disappear off his scanner. Not to mention trying to install psychological warfare with the fog and faces...

It was clever... But not good enough.

He then began locating several signatures approaching from the west near the home. John took a few more shots into the distance and caught two LIVE men making them yell out and collapses in a heap of mud in the distance. John un-clipped another grenade and observed the distance between him and the group coming in...

_**HUD: [54 yards]**_

John would have to make this count. He however felt thousands of small taps on the back of his armor and the sounds of clippings. He paid no mind to it as he hurled the live grenade into the distance, and turned to take another shot at a man who tried to sneak up on him. He also took notice the man was hurling small needles at him. This however was pointless since all the needles would do was either bounce or bend. He saw two more puff into smoke on the right, and toss several of those odd diamond shaped blades at him. Cutting through the air toward him.

**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM**

The grenade he threw exploded from a few seconds. The knives flying at him hit him at full speed but bounced off his armor harmlessly. He looked down to see a note tied to the knife from earlier. If memory served correct those notes exploded. John began running to the direction of his pelican as the paper blew up causing flames to dance all around the radius. John continued to run making mud splash up. The spartan saw he was being closed in from all sides of the territory and made a massive mistake. He was running out of ammunition and he couldn't fight forever. He kept sprinting at full speed which was around 27.44 miles per hour, and looked behind him to see 10 or so men following him but failing to keep up. He observed his HUD scanner but only saw 7 of those men were not really there. John clipped his battle rifle seeing that he was nearly out with only a single clip left, and began firing at the live men behind him.

**BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG-CLICK...**

The ones that were live were hit in several places ranging from neck, chests, stomachs, and a few heads... All lethal. John dropped an empty clip before clipping a new one into place. He saw he was already 10 minutes away from his Pelican... But he had to lose them some how...

_**HUD: Lifeforms detected from behind...**_

"_**Atakku!"**_

Explosions rang all around chief nearly making him drop down in cover. On his HUD many of his attacker disappeared, from being caught in the were so rapid so quickly it had caught him off guard. His armor could pick up radioactive frequency in case it triggered a bomb... But nothing happened. The bombs made must have been hand made, that must have been the solution. He only saw more and men and women approach him from the flames. They passed by him and toward the attackers following him. They were giving him glances now and then of curiosity, but their main target were the ones behind. He looked to see flames beginning to form near the brush and spread to the trees. The flames engulfed the vegetation causing a massive cluster of smoke to fill the air above chief. He saw more and more men and women get slaughtered in front of him by the odd shaped knives, swords, or hands. He watched as the flames casted different shapes and sizes... And for some odd reason he swore he saw a face in the flames that made him mentally cringe...

He began walking backwards slowly as the screams and yells began to die down and the fires continued to grow causing the glow to become brighter by the second. John turned and slowly began making his way toward the PELICAN and back to the current state of mind. He was continuing to question what this pillar of prophecy crap was and what anything had to do with him. John could've let the Didact kill him... But he couldn't, he could have sacrificed himself to save cortana, but she wouldn't. He wanted to finish what the UNSC conscripted him to serve, but it would never finish. He wanted to bury his pain in any way shape possible. He would never admit he never had a problem... Simply because he was told to never let any emotion take over. It would not only look good to the higher ups, but it would get in the way of his military career.

He would never admit he missed cortana... Because if he did not know how to say it. He truly didn't know what it was to have someone so close to you for so long... Only to be taken from you. But in retrospect, John had many friends in the UNSC during his training. Sam was one of his best... The day he died John was devastated. Several more allies were lost and John felt more and more...more...

Alone...

After so many demises... John felt alone.

He looked in the direction the ship was in... And took off.

**[2 days later]**

Throughout the Elemental nations, that day was known as _**"DAY OF THE ORANGE EYED AKUMA" **_due to a devastating hit to Kiri's shinobi forces in the war and hundreds loss of human life within a day. Reports stated of a seven-foot tall green man with a single orange eye who brought only bad luck to kiri... But good luck to Suna in the Second world war...

**[ 5 weeks later/ Aboard the UNSC Infinity/ GYM ]**

Sighing in contempt, John was currently bare of his armor and in the Infinities gym as pushed for 349 reps. The cold metal nearly touched his heavily riped chest before being raised a few feet into the air. John let his arms bend down and continuing the same process again. The regular routine would go on for a few hours due to his stamina, and his muscle growth. He lifted the massive dumbar over his scarred pale chest as sweat dripped down... The weight was close to 1500 pounds and still felt like a good enough work out... Even though it was in the early stages of feeling a bit light. He was only wearing a pair of black track pants that were hugging his legs and showing the state of muscle they were in. The gym was a very plain color of white with pure white floors and orange walls with hundreds of exercising equipment.

Some dribbles of sweat rolled down from his head and drops softly to the ground causing Johns ears to twitch. He was exhausted from not nearly getting enough sleep for the past few days due to nightmarish episodes and causing minor night terrors involving the same images over and over again. He would see an orange beam with a with some figure in the background. He couldn't make out the character and would not forget it. Usually, you would forget about 70% of the dream after half an hour... But in John's augmented mind...

He. would. remember. every. _detail..._

He remembered the smell... Of burning rotting corpses then turned to dust...

He remembered the sound... The very deep wailing of the composer when it would activate its cataclysmic ray...

He would remember odd words being said to him..._"Mohaya anata ga ikite iru... Anata wa yori ōku no mashindearu."_

He was becoming aggravated from the state of the Infinity was in and more tired of not having any missions... All he could do was wait for a search party in these times of crisis... But after the past few weeks he had used a search database in file history in the Infinities archives, from the recorded sentences he obtained weeks before... And read that they were speaking Japanese. He had no formal teaching in other language other than his given english. But other than that he had no idea had to properly speak Japanese. He searched the database for any matched images on the marking for the headbands he saw and found nothing. He searched geographic images he took before entering the ship to see if he could find any matches... He was met with the same answer... No match.

This made John growl at the memory when he was confronted with the bright bold letters over and over and over again saying-

**NO MATCH**

**NO MATCH**

**NO MATCH**

**NO MATCH**

**NO MATCH**

**NO MATCH**

**NO MATCH**

**NO MATCH**

John's pace lifting had become faster and before he knew it he had completed 20 reps in less than a few minutes. He rested the weight down after the 400th lift on the charging pad, and stood up fully letting the air blow onto his pale skin. He was standing fully at 6ft 10inch without his armor and had the whitest skin... Nearly chalk white. On his epidermis, small scars were around his lower waist from needlers, a few were quite large and were on his left breast from nearly getting pierced by a zealot elite on Reach after it snuck up on him, and a few stood up in place on his stomach from previous bullet wounds. His blue tired eyes blinked a few times as he rubbed his face and sat down for a moment. He crossed his large forearms and saw the few noticeable scars on them as well. The two scars on his top arm stood out as the went down toward his elbow, while a few spread across diagonally on his wrist and two on each under forearm. There was also the few in John's fingers which all went downward.

Whenever he would see the scars of the augmentation procedure on his forearms, wrists and fingers he would get a serous phantom pain just by looking at it. He coughed when his eyes scanned over the gyms equipment and he blinked again to clear his vision from the sweat. He went over to the massive computer in the corner of the room and sat reached for a gray folded towel neck to it in a woven basket. John wiped it over his temple before wrapping it around his neck lazily before sitting down on the bolted in chair. He had tried to think of thousands of ways to get in contact with the UNSC... But all were cut short when John found out the communication tower had been destroyed since it was located on the underside and was now under water

... Both of them.

He had tried to formulate another strategy using the ships technology but it resulted in had excessive knowledge with engineering, but he was no egghead like DR. Glassman. John himself didn't know His IQ, but it was sufficent in the UNSC documents of his listing. He was not on the Infinity when it had been composed but was probably never going to be seen or confronted in this lifetime

.. But one thought crossed John's mind.

Leaving the planet...

While the Infinity had enough food, water, and a generator that could run for or last for years, it was irrelevant to stay on an absolutely unknown planet with no data in the thousands of records John had searched through... He had to find a way off this planet for good... He had to. HE NEEDED TO... For his long due service to Humanity, for his strong-willed duty to protect and serve earth for as long as he lived and breathed... And most of all...

For Cortana...

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><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>

**AUTHORS NOTE: Here is chapter 3. John is going through some mental problems due to a plethora of reasons ranging around being alone, coping with some way to deal with the massive loss, and trying to understand the ship technicality. He's suffering from minor sociopathic episodes and has already shifted the changes in the new world drastically from appearing in the battle... Also the reason why the Kiri shinobi were speaking Japanese. I feel like it would add more conflict to the story since Chief is on an unknown planet with no formal education on speaking other languages. If no one understands it go to google translate, copy and paste and voilà!**

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**He's beginning to slowly lose his mind... Will he? I don't truly know. But i will tell you this, it all leads to something bigger... One good way to another. **

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**Please leave a Review/Constructive criticism/ or idea... They're needed. Any flamer will be ignored and dealt with... Maturely that is. Since I lost my story planner I'll be accepting ideas... Anytime, all the time. Don't be afraid to contribute the idea. This story is kept alive by only you.**

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**One last thing, if anyone is interested in cowboy bebop and soul eater, I published a story based on a crossover with those two. It would be thoughtful and helpful if anyone would read and leave a review if anyone would like more of it, or I could give up on it all together. **

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**Thanks for reading!**

**-****Buona giornata a tutti**


	4. The everchanging fate

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello you're all too of a kind crowd. Here's chapter 4 and I'm excited for it and I hope you all are too. Im also pretty glad the Naruto manga is over so now I can do pretty much whatever I want without ruining the story. I wanted to say is that I redid a few parts in chapter 1 since I had to mention some important details, so if you would like to read it, please do. Now chief is going to be making some tough decisions in the coming chapters and I hope they meet to the stories standards... So if anyone has any ideas that don't involve Master chief using Ninjutsu, I will listen to it and see what I can do. I will also answer every review the best that I can and make sure they become answered... For starters, I ****will not****, under any circumstances end this story. Also, one of the main reasons I'm doing this is because there is so few Halo/Naruto crossovers out there and characters who are paired with Tsunade... Well this story changes all that.**

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**DISCLAIMER/ HALO BELONGS TO 343 INDUSTRIES WHICH BELONGS TO MICROSOFT THAT IS OWNED BY BILL GATES. NARUTO BELONGS TO KISHIMOTO MASASHI...**

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><p>"<em>Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness to pull another hand into the light."<em>

_- Norman B. Rice_

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><p>Chapter 4: The everchanging fate...<p>

**[Land of fire/ Konohagakure no sato]**

Deep within a heavily populated village, sat a middle aged man in a rather large office behind a desk smoking a pipe. He was beginning to show signs of old age due to the small wrinkles on his face, but was still in his prime. He was wearing white robes, with a similar hat with a red front and a kanji on the front that read "Third." He had spent his entire life and devotion for the hidden leaf village, and its people. This man is Hiruzen Sarutobi... Third fire shadow of the hidden leaf village and current Hokage. His power was so legendary, he is hailed as "The God of Shinobi" and had yet lost the title to anyone. His title of Hokage had been bestowed upon him at the very end of the first shinobi war many years before when he was only a teen with his squadron.

He vowed to protect the leaf village under his teachers wishes...

His own teachers consisted of Hashirama senju, and Tobirama Senju. The first and second Hokage of the Hidden leaf, throughout his childhood and the end of the first shinobi world war. Hashirama had perished during the early stages of the first Shinobi war, and Tobirama followed at the very end of it. It had been a depressing time... But Sarutobi pulled through like he promised to everyone. Danzo Shimura, one of Sarutobi's closest friends was enraged (but not showing it) at not being placed as head of the village. While this was an understandable statement, their friendship had begun to dwindle in the years... Creating a barrier between the Hokage and the head of the civilian council. Danzo is a respected member of the council, along as a powerful shinobi as well...

Today in Konoha, the second shinobi war was at its stirring point. Sunagakure had suppressed the series of attacks at Taki and was beginning to fall back, Kumo was aiming toward the Land of fire which was resulting in several konoha forces to defend the perimeter in the dense forests, and Kiri was having to pull itself out of Suna's grasp after it latest but mysterious loss weeks before. The economy was at a rushing high due to weapon manufactures needing an assortment of weapons for the thousands of the Shinobi and kunoichi, but the human devastation was leaving a mark on Konoha... In the last few weeks over 11,131 shinobi had been slaughtered across the border and the number continued to rise... There had been over 723 missing shinobi who had never returned to their squadrons after failing to meet up with them on several occasions. It was either they had been captured by enemy lines, or had become deserters. But the details were never clear on deserters... They were met automatically branded missing-nin in that case if it were to happen.

While Sarutobi gave a tired sigh as he signed the 12 form today and looked at the end of the desk to see another 20 pages needed reading through, he simply grumbled. All he had read about for the last few days was pieces of odd shaped metal appearing around he elemental nations and continuing to appear around the shores or flowing down the river that connected to the ocean. It began with a few, than a stack, next to a cabinet full of complaints. Sometimes, he wondered how Tobirama-Sensei didn't lose his mind or patience under the constant amounts of paperwork. There was enough for an entire forest in here for crying out loud! The reading, the approvals, the presentation to the council, the presentation to the Fire Daimyo and the waiting period which consisted of 3 to 4 weeks to sign ANOTHER approval paper was very stressful. Hiruzen was a very patient man, but when the papers piled up to rival the sky, his wrinkles deepened.

He however knew the importance of these papers was everything to the village... No matter how ridiculous these requests were. It was his job to maintain Konoha's welfare no matter what the cost was. It was his job to maintain the war over the horizon, and his job to keep Konoha from falling to Ame-

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* came from the sound of the front office door.

"Enter." Hiruzen ordered as the front door to his office revealing a silvered haired man behind a white styled wolf mask. His current attire consisted of a Konoha shinobi uniform that ranged from a Jounin flak jacket, a pair of gloves, a bandage wrapped around his left arm, black sandals, a red swirl on his left arm, and an odd looking sach on his shoulder with red triangles at the bottom with the same red swirl on it. He didn't make a move other than bowing while displaying full respect to Hiruzen. "Hokage-sama." He acknowledged.

"What news do you bring wolf? Hiruzen asked knowing this could be another field report of a loss of life. He had signed over 700 in the last couple of weeks as they piled up on his desk. They were never easy to sign, but for the village you serve for, sacrifices had to be made to off the village for the greater good.

But that was job of being a Hokage.

"We've received news from Orochimaru-sama's unit that it had just entered the border of Kumogakure less than 2 hours ago." Wolf answered. "Is that all wolf?" Sarutobi pressed for more information. "None Hokage-Sama." Wolf replied while standing straighter. The tension in the room was calm. The sound of the wind through the window was soothing across the room.

"Wolf... I must speak with you for a moment." Sarutobi hesitated as his eyes scanned over the documents on the wooden desk.

"Hokage-Sama?" wolf questioned.

"Its alright to speak freely wolf, I need you to drop you base of cover for the moment." Sarutobi asserted as he pushed the document to the side that had been bothering him all day and rested his arms in a folding position. Wolf nodded as he slipped off his ANBU mask and sat it on the desk. The face revealed a young man with a few stress lines a healthy skin. This man is known as Konoha's heroic white fang, but his given name is Sakumo Hatake. He was a respected new respected ANBU member, but recently was about to take part in the Jounin exams.

"Yes?" Sakumo asked with moderate concern stressing his voice.

"Do you have any news from Orochimaru?"

"Yes.. I just-

"No... Not the status of the mission, how _his _squadron is."

Sakumo knew who he was speaking of... While the subordinates were fresh out of the Ninja academy, one particular subordinate...had leveled through the most...

But acted as a knucklehead most of the time living in his family's name. He was one of two Senju bloodlines left along with his sister making him a rare shinobi. His name is Nawaki Senju. His birthday was less than 12 hours ago and Tsunade was a nervous wreck because of it. It was his first real B rank mission that took place outside the village, his team consisted of the top of his class, and Orochimaru as his teacher. While Sarutobi was certain that Nawaki wouldn't be harmed under his star pupil, and Tsunade had faith in Orochimaru... Tsunade loved her brother dearly... and Sarutobi had a nervous feeling within the Land of Cloud.

While there populace wasn't as powerful as their own, their military strength was nearly in par with theirs. Making Konoha on a leg here against Suna, who was considered the weakest, Taki who was considered full of military surprises, Kumo who was strongest, Konoha who was smartest in warfare, and Kiri was was the most pained to fight... But then there was Amegakure.

They were a serious problem from the very beginning...

"No news other than that." Sakumo sadly replied having the same feeling for the village.

"Oh," Sarutobi said as he switched his gaze to the drawer below him, opened it, and pulled out a white paper bag. He opened it slowly letting the paper crinkle and some tobacco to put in his pipe. "Then I know what to say to Tsunade." sarutobi mentioned the 16 year old Senju heiress with a sigh. After her parents death her little brother was all she had left... And that one boy she was seeing.

"Im sure they'll be fine. Have faith in them." Sakumo reminded to the Hokage.

"I have complete faith in them knowing Orochimaru has them under his wing." Sarutobi stated. Orochimaru was his favorite student. While Tsunade was a specialist in medical skills, she lacked proper genjutsu training. Then there was Jiraiya, while he was becoming a bit of a skilled shinobi, he lacked proper maturity... Orochimaru was a pure genius in all of the shinobi arts... In every way shape and form. He's patient, calculative, and creative at the same time.

It was scary.

"Then you have nothing to worry about Hokage-sama." Sakumo replied kindly before grabbing his mask.

"Im not worried Sakumo..." Sarutobi repelled.

"Of course." Sakumo said with a frown. "I know in the life of being a killer there is always the chance you will die. I learned that when I was young and so did you." Sarutobi said... or rather loudly.

"I understand Hokage-sama..."

"And more importantly wolf, I know very well I have to make decisions of the village for it depends on everything that it keeps its citizens safe." Sarutobi said as he rubbed his temples.

He was getting old. It was the job that was never getting old though.

"Why now though? In this time of need why now?"

"We've been at constant engages with other nations now for over two years." Sarutobi replied sternly. It had been over two years since Tsunade and Nawaki's parents had been killed. They were caught in the middle of the night by an assassin from the land of stone, or Iwagakure who snuck in on a mission. The mysterious man had entered the bedroom from the window and killed them both as they slept and lit the room on fire to cover his tracks from Konoha. Then the assassin had gotten away after he completed his mission by trying to disappear into the dense forest that night...

...Until he was confronted by an enraged Tsunade who had heard everything and smelled the smoke. She was so furious that she had leveled an entire mountain... and bashed the man's head in at the same time after almost 2 grueling hours of grueling fighting.

It was her first kill... But it wouldn't be her last. Tsunade who was only fourteen was mentally broken from it, and her brother who was only 10 at the time suffered a series of depression of it. After reports of his death went about, it turned out the man was actually a close relative to the Tsuchikage's personal advisor. This gave them leverage to try and start a war... And they got one. Tsunade and Nawaki's parents were head of one of the most renowned clans in Konoha, and killing them was like killing the Hokage himself. Their relatives were Senju's, one of the main reasons for all of the villages being unified in the first place, and the clans forming in several of the villages...Soon after Konoha began launching surprise attacks to Iwa, Iwa's treaty involved other villages to back them up, but soon they begun making deals with Konoha, and they would stab them in the back later. It went like that for months... And they continued to turn on each other like rabid dogs...

And that summed up the Second Shinobi World war...

"Is there anything else I should be doing?" Sakumo questioned the aging kage who closed his eyes and sighed. "No... In fact you can take the rest of the day off. My treat." Hiruzen said as he took a puff of smoke. Sakumo looked quizzically at him at the offer. The were currently in one of the bloodiest wars they had seen in years and he was just offered the day off for reporting a single message... Maybe the day was coming onto Sarutobi quicker than he knew. While he was a stern and serious leader of the village, he never really did get a single day off himself, let alone give any. It was one of those rare moments when you question whether or not they were the real person...

And in this life, you had to be careful who you trusted.

"Thank you for that, I was actually needing to return home to my wife." Sakumo said with a side smile. If there was one thing he truly loved more than the village, it was his wife. He knew that was taboo since you were periodically told to make compromises for the villages well being, but he couldn't truly. Sarutobi only nodded before saying. "Carry back to your day wolf." Sakumo quickly replied. "Yes Hokage-sama." Before walking to the door and leaving to his home...

Sarutobi rubbed his temples as he looked outside to see a flock of birds flying off into a flock. He then stood up before looking down at Konoha and seeing the citizens carry on with their daily lives, buying, selling, tellers, buyers, tailors, weapon sellers, and teachings at the academy. He could hear the thousands of citizens speaking outside as it carrie throughout his office as he closed his window... Fainting pure silence. He went back to his desk before looking over at the report forms from the office and mail room. He read and read and read each and every sentence and they all ranged around the war. It was becoming a colossal hassle to remain vigilant in the time of war... But the shinobi were the villagers protectors, they were Konoha's beacon of hope and resilience. They proved to have the one true thing that would always prevail in anything, anyway shape or form... That would light through all of the deadness in the world and battlefield.

**The will of fire.**

It burned bright in some, but brightest in most of the Shinobi within the land of fire.

Sarutobi chuckled at the memory of his teacher. Tobirama was a stoic man who would never let the enemy get into his mental state. His one true philosophy was "_MIND-TECHNIQUE-BODY... If you can't control one... you can not control the other." _It was harsh but that was the overall estimation of being a killer for a villages safety. Tobirama was never someone to put down, but simply put you down for good...He never shuddered or challenged anyone through the attempts of selflessness, and was probably the most powerful water user in the land of fire. He was exactly like his element. Never letting anything stop him... He would simply faze around it no matter what. He was a true Shinobi in Sarutobi's eyes for his sacrifice at the end of the first war...

Sarutobi wish there was someone who shared the same ideologies as his teacher... It would bring a better attitude among the villages Shinobi and possibly bring this war to a closing.

But it wasn't like someone was going to drop from the sky... Other than metal of course. Speaking of which, Sarutobi had to read that report of some reported _"Orange eyed Monster" _in Kirigakure...

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><p><strong>[Meanwhile in the middle of ocean outside Kirigakure]<strong>

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><p>John sneezed as he stepped off of the amor machine as it tightened all of the bolts into place holding the armor tightly around his frame. He had the most uncontrollable urge to wipe his nose... He perceived the emptiness of the Infinity and could feel the cold air despite the amor, touching his skin... As if the former occupants of the ship still lingered within the room. He never took notice to anything like this before, but recently after doing absolutely nothing other than train, eat, sleep, and plan for counter measure he really has been thinking. He walked over to the gate and stepped over it, and then began walking down the near endless corridor. He picked up the pace a little and saw the massive opening at the very end leading to the bridge. In the past few weeks John had collected scrap pieces of alloy to compose a bridge from the back portion of the Infinity, to the front. The stress of having to make jumps across constantly was beginning to put a toll on John's patience, but he fixed the problem. For the last few days he had tried to learn a few phrases in Japanese so he could at least communicate with anyone on this planet in case the UNSC were unable to be in contact... Yet. John would not truly believe the UNSC was overrun... Not yet. But the idea was beginning to make sense now...<p>

He wouldn't classify himself M.I.A. He was simply taking a while longer to make a reappearance into action... But he had to become locked and ready when refacing the didact again... He would have to no matter what. The Infinity would have to be lifted from the salty waters and be conducted to emergency repairs as soon as possible, But first things first the information would have to be said delivered to the office of naval intelligence within the next few hours... Manually. John would have to search beyond the galaxy... Since communication in the Infinity or anywhere else wasn't responding, he could only assume the worst... But if that happened... If the Didact had truly won... truly beaten chief and composed the galaxy to nothingness...

Then chief would beat him with the last alternative... Since Blades, guns, and explosives didn't do any type of damage to the Didact, and physical contact was out of the question since he was much stronger than chief...

There was only one thing that had one chance...

The Halo rings...

If that didn't kill didact... nothing would.

If all else failed John wouldn't quit until every last molecule within him was vaporized.

But he wouldn't forget of Del Rio... He would.. Not... Forget... Him.

He was the man responsible... While the Didact was the one who did everything, Rio was THE cause of it all... But what had John done to deserve such a fate? All he wanted to do was stop the Didact who proved to be a armed and dangerous being who would not go down easily under UNSC marines alone... But Del rio wanted to play know at all captain who made his decision final, and not respond okay when the higher ups get mad. And because of his treachery to the UNSC... Everything was lost. John would make sure that del rio would pay for his crimes..

Call it whatever you want. Revenge for his race, or vengeance to Cortana.

The simple devotion to master chiefs life now was not only make the Didact suffer in the most unimaginable way possibly for eternity, but to make Del Rio pay for his crimes severely. Even though he outranked him and had control of several smaller fleets, John would find a way to bring him down once and for all...

Not because he only had to for his crimes against humanity, but because John would want that nothing more...

John had a major recall of all the vehicles stationed on the INFINITY to make sure they were fully operational in the plan for counter attack against the Didact. There were 13,264 M12 force application vehicles, 14, D79H-TC Pelicans, 6,678 M808B main battle tanks, 122,343 M274 Ultra-light All-Terrain vehicles, 32 M510 Siegework/Ultra-Heavy Mobile Anti-warcraft weapons Platforms, 3,078 HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark IX armor defense systems, 32,232 F-41 Exoatmospheric Multirole Strike fighters, and finally 10 Strident class frigates. But due to the crash an assortment of all of the fighters had sustained some portions of damages and some sustained heavy damages. One of the frigates was flyable, but due to the major section of the unloading bay being submerged in hundreds of feet in sea water, nothing was leaving from that part of the station anytime soon.

He would also have to make note of the odd occurrences that happened weeks before in the battle he fought. He saw men and women perform such deadly illusions and powers... Or mutant powers... But there were many things unexplained from that day. John had taken mental notes and searched for anything that could help him understand this planet better. He imputed the images he saw in and got zero results. He searched for anything related to what they said or this word "JUTSU" they kept shouting about as they attacked him and left him nearly defenseless. He was lucky all they used were water and simple fire, if they were capable of that who knows what else they could do...

In all of his military career and assaults on enemy lines ranging from extraterrestrial armies, a parasite with thousands upon thousands of minds linked together, and godlike beings with no pity for humans except themselves...

John-117 was without a doubt... At a loss for words

He was interested when he found thousands of excessive information from that search. Apparently "JUTSU" was a type of mystical arts for the warriors once known as the Shinobi or "NINJA". At first John thought this was a hoax, since it wasn't possible for people to be able to do such things involving magic... But after reading it only got harder to take in and understand. Its related to a mystical life force known as Chakra. Chakra is a mystical life force that inhabits all beings cells individually, signifying their life and mind, and those who were able to mold their chakra were able to unleash a mystic art known as Ninjutsu... Which ranged from walking on water or surfaces, exhaling fire, and casting illusions known as genjutsu... But it mentioned nothing of the use of hand seals...

There was so much more to read about on these topics... But John thought this information was irrelevant to his cause and had enough..

But it didn't leave his mind though...

John made his way toward the man made bridge he had constructed from pieces of spare alloy and constructed them using a high powered blow torch. He walked across as he heard another wave crash of the ocean against the war vessel far down below. Since he was practically in the middle of the choppy ocean, the current was at it's strongest and would constantly beat against it's steel alloy hull. John had seen many boat or small vessel on the water through the fog, but for some reason they would always steer clear of it.

He would not be used to being near the ocean... It gave him a bit of Nostalgia from his past on the beaches on his homeworld Eridunus II. When he would bury his legs up to his knees in the sand and feel the sand between his fingers. He would always look down past the ocean and see the industrial district moving those massive pods with the cranes as the sun was setting showing only their outline in the distance... Then when it was time for dinner, his mother would call him from across the beach as the tide crashed against the surf... His mothers radiant smile, her sweet sincere voice, and the feeling of her arms wrapping around him when he ran to her...

...

...

..

.

John blinked a few times, trying to jog his memory back into place as he walked down the quiet halls to the launching bay... Forgetting of his dead past and remembering his current mission.

* * *

><p><strong>[Launching Bay]<strong>

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><p>John strapped himself tightly in the Pelican and ready to venture out into space. He wasn't in the mood to take any time for launch sequences and needed to get off the planet as fast as he could. The Didact had begun composing New Phoenix after being awoken after seven hours... And it had taken John around 5 weeks to sum up all the needed information of this planet if he could turn it into a base and bring forces down to fight against him. John also needed to locate engineers to repair the Infinity internally since it was its last hop and defense against the prometheans. The reason for the long wait was to try and fix communications to the Infinity, and then after that it was waiting for a signal...Anything.<p>

John was skeptical of taking a Pelican into deep space exploration, but other than this his options were down to nothing. While the massive frigates were moderately undamaged, they wouldn't be taking off until a new pad was developed for it to raise them and give them a better head start to launch...

John prepped the engines as he flipped the switches on the left hand side and awaited the force field to open up at the end. The engines turned on and the blue field disappeared after a few seconds and signaled John it was time to take off. John wanted to keep the power off and on standby due to the fact the Infinity had an emergency generator that was running. It could run for around 5 years... But after the salt water damage in the engine room it was down to 2 years. He would have to work with what he had and not be hasty with his decisions... Billions of lives were on the line.

But nothing John hadn't been through before...

Except this time...

He didn't know whether O.N.I was still active or not from the 5 week onslaught. He wasn't certain that O.N.I was still active or possibly living...

Guess this was one way to find out for sure.

With the accelerator pressed at full force, the Pelican's wing engines activate causing it to lift up off , and John speeds through the entrance to the outside for the first time in over a week. John rose up seeing the ocean was so far below and made a few degrees right turn. He observed some of the moderate repairs he had made to the The Pelican rose higher and higher and higher until it began to enter the first part of the atmosphere. John looked over the side and saw the ocean become smaller and smaller... Until all he could see was pure blue with land in the great distance. When he looked further into the distance all he could make out was a massive gray and dark cloud covering land.

Something though registered in John's mind from the previous five weeks. He began to scan the air quality outside to see what gave it it's vivid color and began to activate the small vacuum on the outside engine and waited for the results of the contents in the air. It wasn't lethal since John had been breathing it for nearly a month of being stranded on the Infinity... But he needed to know.

After 124 seconds. the results came onto the screen showing what was in the air... And it read "Normal Air quality containing no substitutions."

This left John wondering.

John however continued to press further into the atmosphere as the sky became darker and darker with each couple hundred feet per few seconds...

And off this planet for good...

* * *

><p><strong>[SPACE]<strong>

* * *

><p>Like always, the vast vagueness of space always gave John a feeling home. Everything, was exactly the way he had pictured it... Utter blackness with the odd colors of galaxies beyond the glowing stars that littered everything around him for light years. He could see the moon that was probably miles away from him but that wasn't his current destination. He had spent the majority of his life traveling from planet to planet training, fighting, and surviving while being transported. He had never truly observed space during anytime... But now his eyes were scoping anywhere... Anything for signs of a vessel or a single satellite station containing marines, scientists, Spartans, or anyone who know of the status of earth. John activated Anti-freeze so the engines wouldn't solidify. He then pressed the active distress beacon. The distress beacon was at the bottom base of the Pelican and could reach miles beyond imagine.<p>

He was around a few miles out of the planets reach, and nearly away from it for good. John located the "AUTO PILOT" by searching for the left three blue knobs that would keep it at a constant pace and swerve around any unwanted asteroids or space debris. He activated auto pilot and pressed the instant messaging beacon. He sounded the microphone and awaited the red blinking button to activate a connection and send a voice message

...

...

...

...

**_/ UNABLE TO ESTABLISH CONNECTION /_**

John was becoming uneasy at the moment. The connection to probably one the most simplest receivers wasn't responding. John clicked again and was met with the same description on the lower blue screen written on white letters. He activated hover boosters and stilled the Pelican for a moment... John tried to reboot the system and see if he could possibly gain a simple connection...

He waited...

...

...

...

...

**_/ UNABLE TO REBOOT CONNECTION WITH SELECTED FREQUENCY /_**

John could only assume the worst at this point. If connection was out of the question, then he had to assume the U.N.S.C had suffered a massive besiege from the Promethean's and the Didact. The only logical plan John could think of now was his mission from the very beginning. Returning to earth seemed the most reasonable and the only possible thing he could do. He thought of returning to earth... If the coordinates were correct, and if he had enough fuel to locate any UNSC fueling station within the systems map... Speaking of which. John activated the mini-hologram map on the center right side of the Pelican's dashboard. After pressing "ACTIVATE", the map turned on for a few seconds before reading 'LOADING'...

...

...

...

...

...

...

**_/UNKNOWN GALAXY, ERROR, ERROR/_**

John growled before switching the map off roughly, and quickly activating the boosters. The jets roared pushing it slightly through the empty vacuum of space before John began speeding forward as far away from the planet... He was set to finding AND locating earth... One way or another...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

But for some reason... He felt so... tired... Like the energy had literally been drained out of him.

John groaned for a moment before falling forward, but lifting himself lightly... His vision was becoming hazy, and his eyelids were becoming heavier than he could imagine. To his will, he tried to bite his lip to try to keep himself awake, getting a bit of blood to leak down his chin inside the helmet. But the extreme case of fatigueness was becoming too much for him to handle himself... He continued to try and fly forward and past the planets gravitational pull so if he did pass out he wouldn't be stranded. Further and Further, his vision became worse... His arms began to gain an unimaginable weight from the stress and all he could do was moan as his world turned black...

And finally...

John slumped forward, hitting the massive keyboard roughly before passing out in a deep sleep...

And the Pelican shut off mysteriously... Before it began descending back to the planet he was trying so desperately to escape from... It entered the atmosphere and continued to fall, gaining a sudden speed within seconds...

* * *

><p><em><span><strong>XXXXXXX-117-XXXXXXX<strong>_

* * *

><p>The same feeling from weeks before took over John's frame as he felt the tightened grasp hold every being of him... He tried to look around but this time he could move his head. THe area was the same before. Pure white void with different glows in the distance. He looked down and saw his arms and legs stiff as a board and he was standing on nothing. He tried to release himself but felt nothing move. He had the same combination feeling of fatigues and being weightless. The area had the look of glowing lines in the distance, running in a downward direction and counting until it disappeared in a silvery mist below.<p>

He continued to struggle against the phantom binds that held him in place until he stopped to take a breather. Then he tried again. And again. And again. And again... Until he began looking around and trying to listen. He looked at his HUD to try and see where he was in, or if there were any floating eyeballs this time. The location was unknown, terrain was unknown, elevation was unknown, the air quality was even unknown. The armored soldier then tried to shift at least one of his fingers to see if he could at least try to press the gravitational stabilizers on his armor, if he wasn't anywhere with surface, maybe he could be in an area with zero gravity. With all his might, John tried to force his forearm to bend a few centimeters to tap the button. He gritted his teeth and a low growl escaped his lips as he inched closer and closer.

"**It's not going to work you know." **A calm voice said suddenly said behind John. He eased his actions as he slowly turned and was met with a man... But this man looked abnormal, to say in the least. He was met with the sight of a middle age man with pale skin that could match his own, around his mid 40's, very lean build, long pure white hair with a few strands holding beads. But what really stood out about the main were two traits. His eyes for one held no iris, giving him the term naked eyes a whole new meaning and an appearance of an alien like being... But the one and only feature that drove John to wonder who in the hell he was speaking to...

Were the two identical horns on his forehead. He held a dull gaze at John who focused on the man in front of him with absolutely no emotion. John also saw the man was wearing a white cloak that cut around his midsection showing he was wearing black pants, and black boots. The cloak had odd insignias around the neck where the line went down on both sides, and a high standing collar. They were black with a single dot in the middle. He lastly, had a staff on his back in a diagonal fashion with a cross end.

"**You are the culmination of a thousand lifetimes of planning? I must say that's interesting when you don't any access to chakra,"** The figure said as he stepped forward only a few feet away from Master chief before saying. **"But I mustn't argue with the flow of the peace... Or fate in that matter." **He finished before waiting for the spartan to answer...

"..."

**"..."**

"..."

**"..."**

"..."

But didn't get any except the Spartan's visor staring directly at the horned being**. "You don't have to be in denial... I understand what is going on."** The man said as his face didn't even shuffle a muscle.

John didn't answer.

The man continued. **"Your system is filled with valor, extreme audacity... And perhaps the luckiest spirit I have ever come to see, but I sense no fear. Fear is probably what manifests are minds... But I sense none on you... I also sense something else within your mind.**" The figure said as he squinted his eyeballs. **" I see a man with more machine than his mind...**"

"Who or what are you?" John finally asked as his arms were still suspended to the sides. The man stood still looking up at Chief's orange lined visor before turning his back to him. John was however trying to possibly think of an escape method.** " My birth name, Hamura Otsutsuki...And what I am is of no importance."** The man revealed before turning his full attention to master chief. **"And I brought you here to stop you from leaving the world..." **Hamura said as John was about to say something until he was interrupted.** "You are given the chance to stop the killing, or to postpone it for brightness to take effect."**

"Let me down..." John said in a low tone not wanting to play prisoner for the third time. He didn't have a plan, and this was probably the most rational. Hamura looked at him for a second... Before John found himself hitting the floor in a kneeling position. He was staring at the clear floor seeing he was practically standing on nothing, but managing to hit solid surface. John looked up at Hamura before standing fully, towering over the man. Hamura didn't stutter or flinch. John applied more anger pressure to the man by standing fully straight up and saying. "Now, talk." His mind set was getting back to earth... But instead he winds up in a pocket dimension with an unknown being being suspended in absolutely nothing ness. His wonderment to know where he was was beginning to become old. He had ended up in so many odd place before and this was becoming pointless to ask.

"**Your attempt to leave the planet almost altered the plan.**" Hamura claimed with a shake of his head in disappointment.

"What plan?" John questioned sternly. This whole disaster was part of a plan? Was Del rio not ever responsible? John had looked over the surveillance footage, but due to the impact of the crash it was nearly unreadable. But John was gonna give the former A.I the benefit of the doubt. There were no other explanations to his armor's lock up other than coincidence.

John had double checked his armor on the check in stations, and the only problem with it minus the partly destroyed helmet... None.

Hamura didn't answer... He simply looked at chief with an aloof look of not caring whatsoever. Chief asked again. "What. Plan?" He was tired of the waiting, tired of the unknown questions...

He WANTED answers.

"**You had met my brother earlier... Hagoromo. He said you were the one.**" Hamura said while chief suddenly found himself several feet away from him in the blink of an eye across the void. Chief didn't move but continued to listen.** "The pillar of prophecy... The one who would aid the child of prophecy in his time of need and be there for him when the time calls. My brother felt shifts in the balance of the universe, someone changed something, but one conclusion opened to another beginning... Thus, a new story was born... But a hero needs a pillar to hold him up when he is in need... From beginning to ending.**" Hamura stated afar from chief.

"I don't want any part of it. My mission is to protect humanity. And this _isn't_ my world..." John said as he stood like a statue.** "I know it isn't... But what gave it away?**" Hamura questioned

"It took weeks to figure it out... And reality for me to know this wasn't my world... Or universe." John said simply. "But I have to get to earth... Lives are in danger." John stated seriously as he tried to remeber what he was doing before he passed out...

"**Lives are in danger here as well." **Hamura countered as he looked into the orange visor and deep within the soul of john-117.** "Things beyond everyone's control, even mine. That will take place in the next coming years... And only you know of it."**

"Its my duty as a soldier to defend humanity." John claimed silently in his _"Dead and Serious tone"._

"**This is humanity we're speaking of." **

John said nothing as he turned around and began scanning the area for a corner space to leave from. He thought of maybe he entered a sub pocket dimension between his reality and the other one, and if he found the right one.. He might be able to return to his world after all and save his hardships throughout and in.

"**And then what... Will you try to end the Didact?"**

Hamura watched as he stood completely still before continuing**. "The galaxy brought you here to stop someone, **_**far **_**worse than Didact from happening and coming to be. It is significant that you stay... And if that doesn't happen, and the prophecy isn't true or fulfilled... Then all hope is lost forever, and reality will be nothing more than a dream."** Hamura said before continuing**. "The world you live in is created by chakra, and those who use it for glory, also use it for pure sinful needs... But you were summoned here for a reason... Many reasons."** Hamura said as he remembered what had happened in the everlasting time period within the spirit world. TIme meant nothing in here... What seemed like a millennium seemed like an hour... What seemed like yesterday was today

"**The Didact will not come here...And you won't escape..." **

John in the meantime was not moving from his position. "The how do I return?" It wasn't becoming repetitive, but really his soul mission. Humanity was probably- NO. He wouldn't let theses thoughts cloud his mind, not now...

"**You can't..."** Hamura said before appearing behind John, but not making him flinch.** "You could spend the next millennium searching for earth... But you will not find it.. You won't... It's pointless. But concerning with you that won't be any problem at all."** Hamura said making John turn slowly looking down before saying. "What does that mean?"John thought this man had said something wrong. His mind had been through to much and anything seemed to be possible at the moment. He just wasn't getting the understanding of the riddle

"**You could waste... MILLIONS OF LIFETIMES searching for you organization in space... And you won't find them... But in your current state that is all you really have... Time, and time alone, for all of eternity...**." Hamura claimed making John try to process the riddle but not clearly understanding the ghost like being. John looked at him before saying. "I don't understand."

Hamura sighed before taking a step back and rethink a way to pronounce what he was saying to the spartan.** "The pillar of prophecy is not as strong as the child of prophecy...But luckier than him and everyone else... But in order to achieve how lucky you were..." **Hamura paused for a moment. **" You were bestowed, a gift." **

"A gift?" John questioned with questions.

"**Yes, a gift like no other, a gift that will make you different from everyone else... Most of everyone**. "**...you're aging no more..**" Hamura said.** " You will walk on the planet as a ageless savior. You won't ever die of old age."** John stepped back in shock before Hamura continued.** "Seeing you has taken different highlights of the word machine... You lack humanity, and seem to have little to no faith for anyone... Always relying on yourself. But when you fail, you silently wallow in your failures..."**

John was standing with his fingers slowly moving forward. "Are you saying I'm... Immortal?" It wasn't anything he could reach or grasp around had become from worse... To horrible in a matter of weeks... And this just topped it all off.

"**It wasn't my decision... But after entering a different area to another in a matter of seconds, combined with your heritage... It accumulated it all up to immorality. But know this, you can still perish from wounds sustained in battle..." **Hamura said as he felt as sudden pressure**." Our time has been cut short. Know this spartan, every life you save changes the balance, whether good or fr worse... But do not give up... There are chances you can get home."**hamura stated suddenly breaking the ice.

Master chief's head shot up before he asked. "How?"

Hamura didn't answer immediately... But when he did he closed his emotionless eyes and said.

"**Time will tell... But remember... Become a man... Not machine." **Hamura finished as the world around John darkened to the point of being absolutely being nothingness...

"Wait!" John said loudly before trying to step forward... Until he felt an unimaginable burning sensation at the base of his skull... He touched it lightly before it began to grow... It grew...

And grew...

And grew...

And grew...

Until the point John felt as if his entire skull was on fire...

He then fell backwards...

And he fell...

And he fell...

And he fell...

Letting gravity pull him down into the dark abyss below... Making John believe his time was finally up...

...

...

..

..

.

.

**THUMP!**

"Uhhhhggggg." Came from John lips as felt his back smash into the ground hardly resulting the wind to be knocked out of him. Either he had fallen asleep falling or the fall was never that bad to begin with. He layed on the ground for a few moments to ease the pain, before he opened his eyes to get the view of green tree leaves on branches up above and the night sky. He sat up observing where he was... And it was no where he recognized. He could hear running water a few feet from him, the sound of crickets, and he was currently sitting in the middle of a dense forest. The sky was partially clear with a bit of a white haze added to it, and stars could be easily seen. There was a very soft mist to the area... Or smoke from the smell. He quickly stood up and looked around his surroundings. Several of the tree's had slash marks and broken branches, there was the smell of smoke in the area, scorch marks... And yelling in the distance...

John sat up thinking of what just happened...

He would never be able to get back... This was probably the biggest blow to him in days. All his planning, all his devotion... And everything else had absolutely been pointless. He didn't know what Hagoromo or Hamura were. If they weren't Forerunners, or gods, then what on earth were they? John was out of ideas at the moment... But that didn't really matter to him... What really mattered was what they told him...

He was immortal...

He would never die of old age...

Never become sick...

Never grow old...

In John's sense, he didn't care or even have the though to understand it, it didn't have a strong impact on him, but after thinking it over... It didn't feel right. Even though he was given the chance to die in battle from wounds, he didn't feel like he deserved it. Billions of humans had died... Yet he wouldn't... Thats if someone killed him though. Then again becoming immortal was never on his to do list. His to do list consisted of returning to home to fight... and then he would die...

But until then... He needed to get back to the Infinity.

John looked around until he saw his Pelican had crashed amongst a lake in the mud. John raced through the river to observe the damages and saw the engine was smoking, the wings were scratched but no significant damage, and the tree's along with the mud softened the impact. John examined the inside and saw it wasn't that heavily damaged... But it sank in the mud a few inches making it unable to properly lift off. It would need a tremendous amount of force to remove the 13 ton flying craft . John went toward the back of it and tried to get a solid grip to pull it out. He placed his hands underneath and began pulling inward to pull it in. He pulled with a minimal of his strength and got negative results. Next he tried hauling it with a good fraction of power and saw the Pelican move slightly and creeks in the metal. John finally tried to jerk it out with all he knew, and then took notice of a squashing sound and looked down to see he was sinking in. He stepped out before hearing more yelling in the distance. He looked at his HUD scanner and saw 17 blimps on it. He walked over to the side hatch of the Pelican and opened it. He reached for the first weapon inside which happened to be a SRS99-S5 Anti-Material sniper rifle with infrared scoping. It was night, and anyone who would be detrimental to John would have to sneak around him... if it were that easy of course.

John then reached for a DMR battle rifle, and locked the black hatch. He then jogged over to a stone near the river bank and activated his night vision inside his helmet. Since the lights would attract unwanted attention. His vision went from dark to illuminating green within seconds and everything became clear as crystal. John steadily turned the safety off the sniper rifle before he looked toward his scanner and saw the major activity was happening toward north approximately 46 feet. He slowly lengthened the rock on its side for a few meters before it would lead him to the forest, he checked the ammo and saw it was full...and looked among the distant tree's to see a man... No... three men. All wearing white vests that looked heavily threaded with gray lining, headbands with 3 strange oval-like circle's in the middle, they also had their faces covered with cloths, and wore dark pants with boots.

John however caught the sight of three rapid approaching targets... He looked through his rival to assess the battle about to begin. He felt the hardened pressure in the air, the strong blow of the wind blow through the branches making them creek softly, his lips felt dry... They always do before an engagement. He measured the wind velocity so it wouldn't cause the bullet to veer off course, noted where the men were standing and any possible routes they might take so John could easily pick them out one by one, and checked the distance between them.

The three men didn't know what happened until silver wire shot down stabbing the ground making them jump back slightly... holding those explosive notes. "(Sore wa amushda)_IT'S AN AMBUSH!_" One of the ninja yelled as the note blew up causing a dust cloud to form and chunks of rocks to go flying. John had installed sound detecting subtitles in his helmet to re-establish what they were saying if he were ever caught outside the Infinity again, which was true. The letters appeared yellow but reliable as John read it. But he didn't have time to realize it until he saw a small man try to slash at the garbed man who saw it coming and skillfully leaped away out of the knifes slash. John had to be a bit amazed by the mans acrobatic moves... But only then did John get a closer look through the scope and see that small man features and build was almost childlike...

Until what he saw was true...

That man he saw...

Was a boy...

Just a child in fact, looked no older than 13. Why on earth was a kid fighting in a battle like this? This gave John the same feeling of being recruited back when he was only 8 years old... Being forced into fighting for humanity's survival against almost anything. He never fought against it though. He was simply intrigued with the basis of becoming a Spartan and leaving for Reach... He never regretted his decision since that day.

Until 6 weeks ago that is... Everything had become a the worst of many failed lifetime achievements...

John watched as the child dodged a punch from the man, but kicked him in the face and lept back falling toward the ground. John wanted to intervene but saw the boy stick... Stick like a spider, to a tree trunk by standing on it, before leaping off, performing a couple rolls in the air and landing gracefully. John saw another presence and looked to see a tall thin man approach behind him. "(Yūshūna sakuhin Nawaki-san wa, watashitachi wa isshun no tame no jikkō-ji ni sorera o motte iru)_Excellent work Nawaki-san, we have them on the run for the moment_." The man could be described as two words... Utterly unnatural.

He skin was pure white putting John's pale skin to shame. He had long black hair that went toward his lower back, his nose was long and pointy, a narrow jaw, a snake like neck... And even though it was dark, Master chief swore the man's eyes looked just like a snakes. The color was on green... But the iris... It was just like looking into the eye's of a snake. His eyes also had purple lines going down the bridge of his nose giving a sight to see. He was wearing a dark green vest, a black body suit with long sleeves that covered his entire hands, bandages around his ankles, sandals, and a headband with a swirl on it.

The boy who had light brown hair, peach skin, blushes on his cheeks smiled widely at the skinny man behind him. "(Anata ga sensei arigatō)_THANK YOU SENSEI_!" The boy said loudly and enthusiastically. The boy was wearing a dark blue shirt with a tan under longsleeve hoodie combo, with baggy tan cargo pants that went down to his ankles, a pouch wrapped around his waist, a similar headband to the pale man, and finally a bandage wrapped around his leg. The boy Nawaki looked nothing of a killer, let alone a fighter. From John's observation he was loud, inexperienced, and a walking target with those type of clothes on...

In all said and shown... This kid wasn't going to last an hour...

The man looked at the boy Nawaki however and looked into the forest before saying. "You take first inspection Nawaki-san, we have them now!" Nawaki nodded before running off toward where the men had run off to. Just as John was looking through his scope he saw something in the dirt approximately 30 yards away from him... and saw a half covered explosive tag in the dirt.

Acting on pure instinct, John jumped straight and over the boulder and he sprinted forward through the brush and past the tree's like a bullet. His feet created small craters while he ran forward to stop the boy from getting himself killed in an explosion. The boy was racing almost like an athlete, he was probably the fastest kid John had ever seen. John himself had superior genes since he was a foot taller than everyone else when he was a kid, but he wasn't the fastest. That was... Kelly.

Getting his thoughts out of the dark, John saw the boy was about to be snuck up on by a man sitting in one the branches in a tree 32 feet above. He was looking down and began performing rapid hand signs. John took this as a warning and fired at the man while sprinting.

**BBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ-SNAP**

The silencer had done its job and ceased all sound in the area. His fast paced hand movement was halted as a 114MM sized bullet punched through skin, blood, tissue and caught him directly above the left breast striking his heart, killing him almost instantly. The man grunted before falling back and flying toward the ground. He smacked the ground head first snapping his head backward at an unnatural angle and slumped down. John however paid no mind to this and kept running as the boy neared the explosive tag...

_3 feet away..._

John grunted as he kicked the forward almost nearing the speed of an actual bullet before he jumped forward and had his arms reached out to push him out of the way...

_A few inches..._

The boys foot was directly above it now. His foot came down... until it was too late.

**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM**

Orochimaru knew his task like the back of his hand. His overall patience had been wearing thin as of all day, but due to the conflicts within the world mistakes were bound to happen... But as of right now he didn't know what to call it. He didn't know what happened, but one minute he see's one of his subordinates run off to chase down the other Kumo in the area for integration but instead see a massive dark blur and enormous detonation of an explosive tag. Orochimaru covered his eyes as the flame and dust grew over the area... "Oh no..." He said as he walked a few steps but was nearly caught by shuriken flying through the air. He dodged shifted upward and saw 12 Kumo nin jump down upon him...Orochimaru looked up as began to gather his chakra for a snake clone.

"_Nawaki will have to wait..." _Orochimaru thought grimly as he rushed forward to fight off the Cloud nin...

* * *

><p><strong>[Several feet away]<strong>

* * *

><p>"No..." John muttered as he looked down upon the unconscious boy in the dry dirt.<p>

His right hand was missing and the bone was sticking out while it began to bleed profusely. John, acting quickly untied the headband around his forehead and wrapped it very tightly around the boy's arm to hopefully stop the bleeding. The flesh on his legs were nearly burnt off and John could see the burnage was nearly to the bone and the nerve damage was nearly untreatable. His torso was covered with burns, small pieces of rock imbedded into his flesh. If they weren't removed properly or in time, they would be infatuated with infections in only minimal time. But looking over the boys overall injuries... It would be the blood loss before the infection took even a slight effect. John reached for a biofoam cannister around his utility belt on the back and noticed he only had one... He would have to make this count.

He looked at his scanner and saw the men from before were advancing in another direction, but a few more were advancing toward Chief's way...

Chief looked at the boy before feeling for a pulse on the side of his neck and using the sensitivity of the armor's fingertips...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

_(Thump)_

"_He's alive..." _John acknowledged in his mind slowly but took notice to the boy's obvious deadly distress. He carefully gripped the boy's small frame and leaned him up against a tree to sit him up right. The boy had a black left eye beginning to form from chief crashing into him and knocking him out possibly, but if he hadn't he wouldn't be here by now. John twisted the cannister and pointed it at the boys burns. Biofoam is used to heal cuts, lacerations,contusions, burn and electrical burns... But the pain of using it was described as "thousands of tiny knives stabbing." John hoped the boy... Nawaki was his name...

...wasn't a screamer.

Ever so slowly, John opened the nozzle and began applying the white medical cream to his knee and left a white stripe down his leg toward his foot. Nawaki's face contorted slightly to the pain... Then it began to twitch rapidly. John did the same thing on the other leg quickly and noticed the biofoam was almost dry in the cannister. He let the biofoam slowly spread across the boys shins... and let it cover the skin.

Then Nawaki began to groan silently from the pain as he was still knocked out. John used what was left in the cannister on Nawaki's stump hand. Nawaki began to groan louder from the agonizing pain...But John held his gloved hand up to the boys mouth as he saw several men race by up the tree's. John then hard the boy began to silently scream as he noticed he was waking up. His eyes began scanning everywhere around him, he was pale as all color had left his face, and he looked extremely tired...

Then he saw chief... And chief looked back at him...

The boy's face scrunched up... Before his eyes closed again.. and his head slumped to the side...

John felt slight panic as he felt the boys neck again... But felt nothing. He couldn't see or hear any breathing signs from Nawaki... John placed the boy on the ground before trying to resuscitate Nawaki by lightly pumping his chest, to stimulate oxygen through his lungs. The blood loss was beginning to take it's toll and this boy was beginning to die. Until something registered in John's mind... He had a chance to save the lives of his team but he failed... He had a chance to save the lives of the Infinity but failed that... He didn't know whether Roland's life could have been saved or not but he had a slim chance to deactivate him to probably take him back to earth but failed again. He had a chance to save Avery Johnson from 343 guilty spark, earth from the composers rays, cortana from the gravemind AND didact, Keyes from the flood, Miranda from the Prophet of truth, and Halsey from herself... He had chances to save all of these men and women who impacted his life for greater and everyone elses, but he failed to do so... Miserably. It seemed when it came to save those close around chief, they would surely be killed in different ways. But when it came to the mission, the overall goal at hand he would succeed. After numerous examples and feelings of the quarrels he came to a conclusion that maybe his good luck.. was bad luck to everyone close to him.

Was that truly the reason why? Was his luck the cause of it all?

John was always praised by allies in the past because of it. But the covenant wouldn't deny him the demon title he was given after killing thousands of Covenant forces. But in retrospect, he had plenty of names he had given to the Covenant... Murderers, killers, blood suckers, monsters, family rippers, planet genocides, prophet's bitches, the names went on forever... But his luck had never gone against him. But maybe it was the bad luck to everyone... The death kind.

Looking down at the boy, John tightened his lip and denied the fact this boy was nearly dead, knowing he could have done something about it. He had taken many hours of field medical training and passed with flying colors. He was never appointed as medic though. He could have been faster he thought. This boy was nearly dead of blood loss, his hand was missing, and he was probably suffering from a concussion from chiefs blow... But this would not stop him. He knelt down, reached behind the boy and picked him up. He held him close and looked in his scanner for anyone who would get in his way.

_**HUD: 7 targets directly in front/ 4 on left/ 2 on right/ 1 above**_

John stepped up and began walking toward the trunk of the tree with a DMR in one hand with the butt of the stock pinned on his chest for recoil. John needed to get to the Pelican and take this boy to the Infinity for medical treatment. Even though he didn't know this boy, he wouldn't let him die gruesomely or be left here to die alone. Besides, it was his duty as a soldier to evac any civilians, and this kid fell under that category under section 2 page 3 sentence 4 of the U.N.S.C . Spartan regulation handbook. But he needed to- no, he had to hurry. Looking up John aimed the DMR at the first man in the tree positioning himself to drop down below. Wanting to take the element of surprise away from them...

John aimed at the man's head by aiming down his sights...and pulled the trigger...

He wouldn't fail the life of this kid...

Not by a long shot.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-**_**117**_**-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**AUTHORS NOTE: Please leave a review of your thoughts of what you read. Also Please state anything wrong or if there was anything I could fix up on. Reviews are greatly appreciated and ideas are needed. I will personally humiliate any flamer if they got a problem. Kay?**

**-****A tutti una buona e sana giornata**


	5. The cycle continues

**AUTHORS NOTE: And then there was chapter 5. I can't believe this story has already gotten almost 3,000 views so far. I really hope the reviews keep coming in along with the favorites and follows. It's my dream (For the past few years) to write the best Halo and Naruto crossover, and it's coming along thanks to all of you. We only need to pass 700 likes and follows.. So from this point I only need about 650 more. Thanks to all who have been in support for it. Now in news, I have already half the story already planned out... But writing all of it will take some time, but be patient everyone... It will come out eventually. **

**Lastly, Have a Happy Thanksgiving!**

****DISCLAIMER/ HALO BELONGS TO 343 INDUSTRIES WHICH BELONGS TO MICROSOFT THAT IS OWNED BY BILL GATES. NARUTO BELONGS TO KISHIMOTO MASASHI... ****

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><p>"<em>Depression is not a sign of weakness... It is a sign of you have been strong for too long."<em>

_-Unknown_

**Chapter 5: The cycle continues**

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><p><strong>POP! POP! POP!<strong>

The DMR smoked from the barrel as one man plunged from the tree after catching 3 bullets to the upper chest. He smacked the ground and kicking up some dirt before someone yelled. _"SON OF A BITCH!"_ In a thick japanese voice, as John looked up behind him in the tree's through the scope and caught another one trying to sneak up on him. He felt a presence to his left who was hiding behind a tree. He sprinted across and caught the man trying to hid. When the man who was holding what looked like a katana got a full view of Master chief his face contorted to a stunned look. _"What in the-."_ The man would never finished his sentence as Master chief shot the man between the eyes making him fly back from the impact of the bullet. His back hit the ground with a loud thud as blood leaked from the hole in his forehead. John looked at his scanner and saw he was only 33 meters away from his Pelican. Right now he had to get Nawaki onto the Pelican and prep him for field surgery to stop the bleeding internally and externally.

John heard a noise to the side and saw what looked like the same knives flying at him cutting through the air.. He quickly turned his back toward the small steel projectiles as they bounced off his back harmlessly to protect Nawaki. He turned to shoot at the knife thrower and saw he had disappeared. John didn't know how they could cover such large feet in a matter of seconds. It almost reminded him of the promethean knights that would disappear in seconds... Then would shoot at him from a distance. He looked at his scanner once more, then looked in the direction of his destination and began to sprint while holding Nawaki close to his chest and made sure he didn't crush the small boys frame. He kept a steady eye on his radar and kept his breathing calm.

John could see everything within a 25 meter radius on the lower part of his HUD... But that didn't mean they couldn't see him. His scanner was modified into his suits main port which was already connected to his brain. Meaning, once his scanner picked them up, John would know immediately of their hiding spot in the center of his brain.

He looked around and observed all of the possible hiding spots and thought of taking advantage of them. The tree's held several but could not support his weight, the rocks in the area were not big enough, bushes were not thick enough, but shadows provided excellent cover from sight. But sight was the least of their problems now...

He was more worried about traps since he wasn't able to detect them. In the past, or this world traps were hand made meaning they were undetectable with his technology. In his time, traps could be found and traced with a radiation detector... But now he had to be very cautious of where he was running through.

_**HUD: 4 unknown hostiles on left 12 yards/ 6 unknown hostiles on left 17 yards away/ 13 unknown hostiles forward 27 feet away**_

John began to see more and more men appear in the area from all different sides... His hand reached down for a M9 multi purpose frag grenade and unclipped it with one hand using his thumb. He hurled it into the left side of the dense forest as it flew for 3 seconds, then hearing it land in the dirt...Next was a loud blast, followed by the sound of small debris hitting the ground behind him in the dirt and the loud crash of something large falling over. John presumed it was a tree. He could hear loud yelling and cursing in the distance. Some were from anger, to shock, and to the yells of pain. He looked at his scanner and saw he had taken out 4 of the men. He eased up a bit as he stopped and listened as he leaned up against a tree for cover. He didn't know where he was, or how far the Infinity was from his current destination. He also needed to prep the Pelican for launch without alerting the entire area of his presence, and on top of all that he had a seriously injured child in need of medical assistance. The last reason made John's blood boil. When the covenant had butchered billions of innocent human lives on thousands of planets, it threw him into a cold rage.

He took notice that the blimps following him passed by him not taking notice of him. He could hear people running through the tree branches above but let them pass toward the left, missing him by a few feet.. John looked down at Nawaki and only saw the top of his head against his chest plate... He continued to listen for any shuffles in the dirt or anything that came out of place. and look at his scanner...

...He didn't have time to react when a puff of smoke appeared in front of him, surprising him for a moment until he saw a red blimp appear and a person leapt at him. John jumped back to blast him and saw the person attacking him was a woman. She had a mouth mask on her, brown hair and blue eyes with a straight nse, lean figure, and that circled head band.. He tried to fire at her, but surprisingly she kicked her leg up making the gun go off in the air and out of his hand. She surprisingly gripped around chiefs thigh with her leg trying to tip him over in a Judo leg lock. However, Master chief weighed 995 pounds, which was equivalent to half a ton and trying to budge him would not be an easy task. John held his hand on Nawaki's back to support him, and used the other hand to reach for a combat knife on his utility belt. He twirled it in a reverse grip and swung at the women's jugular to stab her, but she back flipped and landed a kick at John's visor. The kick caught him by surprise, but what really took him off guard was when he looked forward the woman was running up a tree... Literally running up a horizontal tree which was impossible in John's opinion.

Unless the woman had anti gravity boots. She continued to run until she began doing hand seals again and this time a copy of her appeared. John saw on his scanner this woman must have done some type of illusion, then he would be okay. It would seem from his first battle with copies of the attacker the copy itself wouldn't be able to attack him considering it's not really there.

The copy lunged forward pretending to make chief flinch back and fight it... But chief did the exact opposite of what this woman intended him to do. He rushed forward through the illusion and jumped straight up toward her. Her eyes widened for a second before she tried to hurl a shuriken at him, but in his eyes they shuriken was moving about the same speed a playing card would take to hit the ground. He wiped his blade up deflecting the shuriken and making it spark back. The shuriken came flying back to the woman who had to dodge it by stepping on another branch. John imbedded his knife in the bark of the tree to hold himself up and looked at the woman directly in the eye and said slowly...

"You don't want to piss me off..." The woman looked at him angrily since she couldn't understand him, before sprinting along the wood of the tree with a massive blade she had sheathed on her caf. She swung the massive blade forward intending to cut chiefs head off, but he ducked as the cleaver became stuck in the bark and he kicked at her with his right foot. She sidestepped it before aiming a jab at his head, which resulted in her nearly breaking her fingers from the hit. John then swung both legs up but the woman dodge it, aimed a chop at John's arm. John let go of his knife and free fell to the ground bending his knees to absorb the impact.. The woman jumped down from the tree free falling gracefully to the ground. Her eyes narrowed before she began performing handsigns rapidly. John quickly grabbed his sniper rifle from his back and was about to pull the trigger until he heard the woman yell._**"Earth Style: Earth Pillars!"**_

John didn't know what happened, but he felt his left foot shoot up pushing his knee up and launch him in the air making him fly back several feet. He saw things in the area move in a blur. Trees spinning, the ground spinning in and out before he landed on his back smashing a stone in two. He looked up and saw more and more pillars beginning to rise from the ground simultaneously. John rolled backwards since he was currently unarmed and had a civilian in his hand. He began running towards the pillars rising out of the ground like lightning. He waited the right moment... Timed it right..until he jumped on one of the pillars that launched him in the air and began sprinting across from them. He was roughly 15 feet away from her and in a clearing. He formulated the jump as he saw the woman still concentrating with an arm raised making hundreds of pillars sprout from the earth. John leaped as hard as he could on the next rock column that erupted from the ground, over the woman making her eyes widen in shock from the sheer speed and velocity he flew a, slammed into it while still clutching the boy. John reached out with his right hand at the same tree with his knife from before and grabbed it embedded in the bark. He ripped it out before backflipping to the ground making the woman have to dash away. But she tripped over a root from the tree and fell, hitting her head on the ground.

Her brain rattled in her skull she clutched it in pain from the force of the blow. She cleared her vision as she started to see colors fly and had to quickly roll back from being squashed like a grape from the man's massive foot. She quickly got up and pulled out a kunai of her own to fight the man with. She turned around and flashed the knife at John, who clashed his knife against hers...

**SKISH!**

And right through it into her throat like butter.

The knife plunged right through the back of her throat and through the other side, as her eyes widened and a blood spot grew on the mouth part of her mask. The blood stain continued to grow in side before she coughed lightly. She gasped and choked and reached up to try and push it through. In John's sense he didn't like this... But he was left with no choice but to defend himself. John twisted the knife counterclockwise, and the women's necks followed with it until-

**SNAP!**

A loud break rang through the air as the woman's body released all tension and feel to the ground in a heap. Crows flew through the trees after hearing the loud and audible snap echo through the woods. She finally rolled into her last position as she stayed completely still... Forever. John pulled his combat knife out of the woman's throat, eliciting the sound of her flesh ripping from the blade as it was coated in blood. He wiped it off on a bark of a tree sheathed it. He observed the woman who was on her back with blood pooling out of her neck from the vertical entrance wound from the knife. John, feeling unsatisfied tuned the woman over to truly see if she had expired from the wound... and nearly had a heart attack when he saw something he wish he hadn't... Something reminiscing from his not so far past.

Her face...Not just her face but her nose, mouth, cheeks, hairline... She... Looked like...

John continued to gaze at her facial features and came to a realization...Of what scared him the most of his kill...

Cortana... Her nose was shaped the exact same. The style of her hair was nearly identical... Her jaw line shape was... It was ...

John was looking at a corpse of Cortana...

"..." Was his audible reclaim.

He... He had killed her...

He did... He did...

Killed his best friend... only friend.

She died and her blood would forever be on his conscious. They were supposed to protect each other yet HE couldn't... He could never protect the people he cared for...

He could somehow hear her pain filled screams as she went through rampancy. It churned his inside to hear her scream... Because she would never do it. Cortana in his opinion was the bravest person he would ever know... But...

In John's mind... He had just killed her...again.

Thousands of thoughts and voices were coursing through his mind, he began to sweat lightly and his throat became increasingly dry. He couldn't hear anything but the sound of a high pitched ringing...

John slowly looked at the blood splotch on his forearm and thought this was Cortana's blood. His mind was over processing details by the millisecond and becoming faster and faster with guilt. The woman's face resembled hers in so many ways it was nearly nauseating in the pit of John's stomach as he felt a sudden shift in the air even though he was in his armor. The wind in the tree's grew louder and louder until he started to shake and feel very cold... So cold his skin under his armor felt like ice and he was beginning to hyperventilate silently. This all ceased when Nawaki's fit of coughing brought John out of his mental uproar. Nawaki calmed down but began to wheeze softly. The boy was looking more and more pale as dirt was stuck to his skin from the sweat. John shook his thoughts and checked the boys missing hand...

It wasn't bleeding anymore, but the infection would begin if he didn't clean the wound properly. John wouldn't let his past suffering divulge itself with his duty...

His duty... It felt weird saying that now since he couldn't link with the UNSC, he sure as hell wasn't going to give up his way to finding a way home since Hamura said he had "chances" to return home. That was all the man had given him, and he wouldn't deny it... Ever.

Seeing targets continuing to scatter on his scanner, John went over to take his DMR, and sniper rifle before he took off silently. Sprinting toward through the brush toward the sound of the running river... Never once looking back at the Cortana look-alike corpse ... And never noticing the smoke gathering up in the sky.

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><p><strong>[Land of fire Konohagakure no sato/ 11:21 PM]**

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><p>Within the upper middle class territory of the Hidden leaf village were an abundance of homes and shops. Many of the shops were closing and beginning to prep for the next morning, while some were still open. Many of the apartments and homes were turned off for the night and some were still lit. Inside a medium sized apartment with light yellow walls and wooden flooring rested a young woman in bed with white sheets and around 16 years of age. The lights were off and the room was dark save for the bright moonlight outside that made a soft blue glow enter the room. The young woman had blond hair hair that went down her shoulders, hazel eyes, fair skin, and a rather gifted frame for being so young. She looked restless as she tossed and turned in bed vigorously without getting a single moment of peace. This woman was... Tsunade Senju. She's currently on the verge of an anxiety attack since her brother had been on his first outside mission. But knew fully the outcome of being a genin in war with little or no experience outside the village. It had been this way for many weeks now. More and more graves being filled. But considering her, out of all people was afraid. They would be in for a big one of their lives...<p>

Tsunade had been trained under the third Hokage who had fought in the first Shinobi war over 17 years before.. Tsunade had been raised by the man who fought in the first war, her grandfather Hashirama Senju. Both of those men had never given up in the eyes of battle when all seemed lost, yet they succeeded. Hashirama succeeded in his fight against Madara Uchiha even though he had the power of the nine tails, and Hiruzen succeeded in becoming Hokage after the first Shinobi war.

Tsunade had not done any actual missions outside the village since the war had begun a few years prior due to the murder of her parents. Tsunade turned that thought away and tried to maintain her thought on her current problem... Nawaki.

She finally sat up from her blankets showing she was wearing only simple white nightgown with buttons but didn't hide much of her figure through the thin fabric. he young blond slowly sat up, wrapped her hands around her knees and listened to her surroundings... The sound of calmness. There was no sound of talking or anything audible. She could hear the sound of her air vent doing its work by letting warm air travel throughout the cold apartment and warming it up, but other than that nothing else... She hated the sound of the quiet. She wanted her baby brother back to be in home... She loved him dearly to the point of tears since all she had was him in her family. Throughout the last couple of wars the Senju clan had nearly gone extinct, save for her and Nawaki. It happened suddenly without warning, but more and more of her relatives began dying and before you know it, her parent and their children were left. Their parents were the head of the Senju clan... But now it was her and her brother... Her little brother.

But she had to give trust into Orochimaru, they had trusted each other for many years. He would always know how to deal with the situations no matter how dark he looked upon the world. She had been calming her friendship with him over the past few years since he had been becoming more and more devious with his work and becoming more serious as a shinobi. Being younger and more innocent, she never truly understood him and his ways, but as they became older there sights and thoughts became more and more distant. Her mission as a kunoichi was to aid her village like everyone else.. Her brother was a wild thing who would never run out of energy, she could hope to know that he would be fine with her village. He was clever, and a bit of a daydreamer to who idolized his grandfather to no end.

It was his wish- No... His dream to be Hokage. He had wanted to be in that position when he was only 4 year old, and had been striving towards it to no end. While he was a loud and a bit abrasive at times, he would always find the happiness within life... But recently he was becoming a rather gifted genin who had passed with the top three kids of the year in the ninja academy, and was making friends as far as the eye or mind could count.

As was Jiraiya who was a expert of Ninjutsu, Tsunade was perfecting her skills in Medical ninjutsu with her summons Katsuya, giving her the nickname "The slug princess." She was becoming gifted in that area along with her chakra enhanced strength which put her to becoming known as the strongest Kunoichi in history... Literally.

She had threaten to beat the living crap out of Jiraiya in case he had ever peeped on her... But she had a feeling that day was going to come sooner than she thought.

Her brother Nawaki was fairing it easy as well in the ninja academy... But the war had made missions more complex and dangerous. It made them more of a target to the other nations. Gennin or children were seen as easy prey... in other word easy targets.

Becoming distressed with the lack of sleep, Tsunade pushed the hot covers off and got out of bed to get out, away from the comfortable solitude. Tsunade's perfume was in the air and the room was quite warm. She placed her feet on the cold wooden floor, and walked over to her window to get some fresh air in the stuffy room. She placed her fingers under the frame of the window and tugged it slightly open. The wind softly hit her skin and faintly blew a few loose strands of her. She looked over the village, past the front gate, past the dense forest and looked at the peak of the mountains in the distance. Tsunade imagined a time where there was no more dying... and there was life. Nawaki brought life to her though, even though their parents were gone, he always had a smile on his face. His eyes twinkled, and he had the cute little smile that would beam like the sun.

Tsunade looked down at the road of the village before seeing a few shopkeepers sweeping the road in front of their businesses to make them look more radiant. The man who owned the business was away on business and left his young son to watch over the shop and was rather young. Around 10 or name's Teuchi Ichiraku, he had been in charge of his father shop until further notice, possibly due to the war. He was up cleaning for who knows how long in Tsunade's mind. But from the dried sweat on the young boys forehead and heavy bags under his eyes it was raging in the hours of hard labor.

Tsunade had been alone now for almost 1 day and she was already feeling loneliness...It was becoming too dreadful. Tsunade shut her window, silencing the room from the soft breeze and began making her way to the kitchen for a drink. She passed by a few photos along the hallway wall. Mostly of her mother and father. Some contained Nawaki and other relatives, and a few had Hashirama in them. Some were of her teammates during training days with her teacher, but most of the photo's were filled with memories of her family.

Tsunade flicked the light on revealing the mid-modest kitchen filled with produce and accessories and came to the fridge near the corner with a dining table in the middle and opened it to get a small bottle of her Sake. Tsunade capped the lid off and took the scent of the strong aroma. She had begun drinking less than a month ago, but it was to a dare from Jiraiya..

And It was probably the worst idea since Tsunade could not stomach it the first attempt... But it was coming along with keeping it down and out. She looked around the kitchen and gained a dull look from all the food she had thrown away earlier stacking in the garbage. She had been learning and trying to cook decent meals for Nawaki.. Yet she seemed to burn and overcook more food than she bought. Nwaki never complained though... But his face that held disgust almost every night for dinner revealed all. Although, it took one dark glance from Tsunade while she was burning the food over the stove. That was all it took to shut him up throughout the entire dinner and eat it gratefully. Despite the constant gagging and choking...

She hoped her brother would return home. Safe and sound... and never again would he leave the village without the guidence of her family... Her that is.

This was her last thought before she took a swing of the alcohol into the restless night...

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><p><strong>[Border of Kumogakure 11:25PM]**

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><p>Inside the back of the Pelican seats, John quickly strapped the safety belts around Nawaki's waist and shoulders in and applied more Bio-foam to his hand and legs. Nawaki moaned in pain while he was unconscious from the minor concussion. He then wrapped some skin bandages around his legs making Nawaki not react at all since the numbing effect came over his nerves. He thought this was better for Nawaki's sake because if Nawaki was awake he probably would have been screaming his head off and given away their position. John looked over the boy to make sure he was fastened safely in his seat and had been given enough Bio-foam to stop the bleeding. John looked over the boys stomach and saw the eternal bleeding had stopped momentarily, but dirt from the blast had become mixed into the wounds which would resulting an infection. John had to get the Pelican out of the mud and get Nawaki to the INFINITY... And fast.<p>

Chief stood up after finishing his procedure with an injured civilian and exited the back hatch and before it closed. The hatches light went from green indicating it was locked, to red meaning it was armed. He onto the muddy surface and went over to the wing and gripped the back of it, pulling as hard as he could muster. The Pelican began to move slowly out of the mud and took massive time, but John was beginning to sink in the mud up to his ankles. John easily pulled his feet out of the thick clay like mud and kept dragging the Pelican toward the dry land. John kept doing this for a few minutes until he saw his scanner pick up movement near the left...Then the right... John looked at his scanner and kept a straight face as he saw something he wish he hadn't...

_**HUD: UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF TARGET APPROACHING FROM/ ... / South.**_

_**E.T.A:/ 23.7 seconds...**_

Chief kept calm as he quickly walked to the black lock box on the left frontal side containing weapons and ripped it open. He scanned for a second for his choice of a weapon... Before he rummaged inside and pulled out a M739 light machine gun off the brackett. The white and orange metal gun with _UNSC_ engraved on the left side shined as the moonlight gleamed off it. Chief took the safety off and loaded the first round into the chamber. He then reached for an assault rifle with an attachable light, and clicked it to his back clasp. John then went to the side grates and began unloading a debatable guard wall. He lifted it up and folded it outwards giving the shape of a sharp "U". He moved it into place right in front of the middle hatch of the Pelican. Chief ran around the Pelican and grabbed the second one and heaved it to the same side. He was going to need as much cover as possible from what was going to happen.

Even though he wasn't dealing with the Covenant's plasma fire, the floods infectious touch, or bullets from insurrectionists... The abilities in this world were becoming more and more threatening the longer John didn't know the full extent of abilities. They were becoming more dangerous, and more surprising the longer it continued... It went from spewing fire like a dragon, raising the ground, to making copies of yourself. John had to find a way to counteract, or at least have a better understanding of what he was simply dealing with.

The only massive help was these people in this world had never seen a gun before...

But he didn't know what was next...

John looked over the area and saw several red targets on his HUD and they begun flashing, and also took notice of a massive smoke cloud gathering in the distance. He activated his heat signature scanner and saw 11 beings coming his direction. A few were in trees and some were using some type of illusion technique to turn invisible, from Johns vision. John activated and aimed aimed his sound frequency to listen in on what they were saying within the bushes...and this is what he heard.

"_What the hell is that?"_ One voice called out.

"_It looks.. Like a man!" _Another one murmured through the infrared scope.

"_What the hell is that metal thing behind him? It looks almost like a bird..Made of metal." _A man said as he stepped closer making chief clutch his light machine gun in his grip.

"_Could that be some sort of summons? If it is, where can I sign?" _John heard "Summons" and didn't know what that meant. But he heard more and more speaking until he began to hear mutters of attacking from the front, but attack from behind...

It was becoming a rather dangerous situation when you didn't know what your enemy was wielding. John had always planned out his attacks and strategies with formulated plans on what he would need. If there were grunts, a simple Magnum would suffice, if it was a sangheili an assault rifle would get the job done, a jackal would need a sniper rifle to hit that one naked spot on the shield, and hunters... They would need heavy firepower to blast into them.

But this wasn't an alien alliance with superior technology he was dealing with, these were chakra wielding humans with advanced skill in that area... And he had no clue what they were capable of...

More and more voice began appearing to the point a whole crowd was speaking. John began seeing the movement flutter once more all around. John became on high alert as he clicked the automatic boosters in link with his armor to at least lift up the Pelican to let go of all the excess clay on the under hull, and to lock it down. Inside and out. John began to slightly apply pressure to the trigger until he heard someone say.

"_If we can get this thing back to Kumo, do you think we can find out what it's capable of.. Or what it is?" _Someone asked with some serious curiosity.

"_Please, this thing looks nothing like a Shinobi... Or is it a Kunoichi?" _A feminine but cocky voice said.

"_Maybe it's just an illusion."_

"_I've already tried dispelling it, and it's real!" _Someone yelled out.

"_We need to think of a plan." _

"_I've already got one."_

John watched as one man dressed in a brown outfit with a silver headband stepped out of the bushes and began walking forward. He looked full of authority, and had little experience in wars with his stature. He had long brown hair tied and dark gray eyes. _"Name you alliance and name demon!"_ The man's translated voice roared as more and more men and women or Shinobi and Kunoichi as they were revealed now, stepped out from the dark places of the woods; surrounding the area's on all sides. They were currently across the other side of the running river spreading out trying to cover as much ground a possible. In John's mind, he knew what the enemy's intentions were, they were trying to pin him in and try to corner him. But due to several mission engagements with human/covenant forces he had leaned thousands of maneuvers the enemy could attack from..

"_You are surrounded by some of the top Kumo shinobi in the land of hidden clud. Escape is impossible... Now step forward and If you turn yourself over your death will be painless." _The man said as he slowly began walking toward the running river. John tightened his grip on the rifle as he pointed it at the oncoming main who was inevitably going to strike first. _"Are you DEAF! Drop that staff NOW!" _The man was not letting up as he... Began walking on the water. John leveled his light machine gun in its sights and rapidly the gun began firing.

The man from "Kumo" never felt the piercing blazing bullet as a couple bullets entered his skull blowing chunks out, and a few caught him in the chest. Whatever he was doing on the water faulted and fell in. John had to quickly re-aim as nearly more and more shinobi jumped from the tops of the tree's casting silhouettes in the half moon. He was used to target practice... But flying was something he was not accustomed to. Other than the Yanme'es who were born and bred fliers, but they were bugs compared to humans. They sprinted over the water like torpedo's and began to close in on John, but were cut down by the volley of bullets. 3 of the shinobi were down as they also fell in the water. but in the heat of the moment John saw more begin to appear from behind. He quickly turned and sprayed at the shinobi trying to sneak up on him. He exited the cover since it had been compromised and devised to lure his attackers out in the open. On man dashed behind him at an alarming speed and slashed at John with a sword. John was too slow as the man slashed at Johns midsection. But the sword merely glided across without leaving a scratch.

The sword wielding shinobi attempted to do a reverse slash at John's arm, but John saw this coming and caught the sword with his gloved hand. The sword barely moved an inch as John spun his gun around like a bat hitting the man in the cheek, snapping his head and neck in the process. John saw two more shinobi appear from behind quite fast, he spun around and began firing into them. One tried to fall from above from leaping from the tree's, but John rolled forward and bashed the stock of his weapon in the man's face, smashing it in, before he was attacked from the left and the right. John rolled backwards to gain some ground before blasting at the 3 shinobi. 2 of them were hit with several bullets but the third one managed to jump up and land on top of the pelican. He looked down at master chief who had turned his attention away before simulating a plan to take down the armored being...

John was nearly caught by surprise as 15 more kumo shinobi exited the forest sprinting towards him like angry bees. John calculated how close they were before he unclipped and threw both frag grenades into the oncoming crowd of attackers...

**BOOOOOOM!**

**BOOOOOOM!**

The two grenades detonated causing fire to spread across the grass and then caught onto the tree's trunks. Four shinobi were instantly blown away dead from the intense heat, six were killed instantly, and most were smart enough to jump away. John fired into the distance catching three more before switching to his assault rifle, which had better accuracy for mid-long range distance. John blinked when he though he heard a grunts scream run through his brain. After firing another shot he swore he spotted glowing blue blood... From a grunt. He had to constantly reassure in his mind he was fighting humans... Not covenant. He could somehow see images and quick memories of grunts firing needlers at him, bird faced jackals shooting in his direction from long distances, or Sanghelie zealots charging at him with energy swords attempting to skewer him. The ran through the grass with their heads charging forward. The piercing hot two pronged sword behind, waiting to strike like a viper. John swore he was beginning to see this happen once too many... He didn't know how to describe it, but he was feeling the cold rage take over...

He kept firing into the forest hitting more and more shinobi who dared to make an appearance. The shots were flying in all directions, killing anything who got in his way. He shot off into the distance on his left as his light machine gun ran dry. He unloaded the empty clip before loading a full one in its slot and pulling back the chamber to load a new bullet. He aimed and saw one man in the middle of the open area, but on his HUD it read nothing... Until someone pooped up and-

"_**WATER STYLE: GREAT WAVE OF DESTRUCTION!" **_

Chief heard someone yell a good distance away before he heard the sound of water thrashing back and fourth. He turned and saw all of the water in the running river stop moving... and began to collect more erratically... Before it all became a massive tidal wave nearly 60 feet tall toward him. John sprinted left onto some boulders and hoped to get to a high enough to escape the massive tidal wave. The force of the wave was easily enough to knock him over and could easily let him flow away to who knows where. John looked on both sides for some higher ground to escape the colossal water flow and thought of retreating into the forest. However would leave the Pelican defenseless for any shinobi to grab his guns or Nawaki. John looked to his left and noticed a tall but skinny rock ranging from 10-20 feet tall.

He sprinted forward through the mud and leaped up to one of the rocks and aimed toward the right.

**SPPPPPPLLLLLOOOOOOSHHHHHHH!**

**BOOOM!**

An explosion rocked the boulder he stood on and nearly threw him off as the water rocked the stone back and fourth. John maintained his balance and fired at the left from an upcoming Shinobi jump up and tried to slap an explosive tag on him.

**BOOOM!**

John kept firing at the Shinobi as they ran over the running water. John didn't know how they did this but wasn't thinking of that. He was wondering how a simple handsign could turn the simple river, to a rushing dangerous rapid river that covered the entire area. John heard something over his shoulder and saw the Pelican begin to shift uncontrollably in the mud from the water rushing. He then noticed it was beginning to move on its own and start to float within the water before it was caught on a tree. John saw one man stand up on the stone across from him and press his hands together. Another man appeared on his HUD from behind. John raised his rifle but felt something strike him in the back. _**"LIGHTNING STYLE: MERCY KILLING!" **_Like a cold spear throughout his system, John felt his skin heat up to a boiling point, his HUD flickered and static rolled across the screen as he lost all control in his movements as they weighed down. His eyes were seeing spots and he could smell something burning..

Chief fell back on the stone and face upward toward the dark blue sky as he grunted. His eyes were shut tighter than stone as he bit back a yell from feeling every microfiber in his entire body sizzle. He tried moving his limbs... But didn't have the strength to... He felt tired... But not terribly. He began to breathe slowly since he felt like he was electrocuted... His HUD blinked on a few seconds later as he tried to cool down and reassess the situation.

_**HUD: **__**STATUS REPORT**__** /REBOOTING SYSTEMS PROGRESS/ 17.78% SYSTEM ANALYSIS ACCOMPLISHED/ Time: 0.17 seconds**_

John heard footsteps around him and saw two Kumo shinobi look down at him anxiously. John simply looked up at them as his insides felt cold...

"_Did we get em?" _A young man asked looking down at the green giant with his rifle next to him. It had killed almost forty of their unit members, and had proven to be a real pain in the ass. At first glance he didn't know what the hell this was. From all standards it looked like a man, but the armor looked protective... And very heavy. He had tried shuriken and Kunai on the armored beast when he was on the boulder, but nothing broke through amor. The young shinobi reached down and picked up the strange metal plank and began to feel it. The cool metal felt warm at the end and he tried to hold it like the armored man did.

"_Yes we did...The lightning spreader worked with all the water around to conduct it. Now we can take him to Kumo and see what we can do with him." _ Another man said. He had never seen someone directly take shuriken before, He was also beginning to question if this was real or not. This man had killed his men... By simply pointing a metal piece at them and hearing a loud 'BANG". He moved quick, efficient, and moved with many years of combat experience, almost like a killer. It made him skittish to be around someone so big, and so deadly. At first he was expecting to take down a simple squadron of Gennin... Instead he loses half his force to one man... Or whatever the hell it was in the most protected part of Kumo's border within an hour. He observed the armored being as he kicked the Master chiefs foot to see if he was going to respond. Which he didn't. His eyes trailed down and saw his rifle strapped to the armored man's back... and felt one motive...

He wanted that weapon.

Whatever it was, it had killed his men... And he needed it to avenge them.

In the meantime, Chief was feeling sick from the electrocution and looked at his armors status report.

_**HUD: **__**STATUS REPORT **__**/REBOOTING SYSTEMS PROGRESS/ 92.99% SYSTEM ANALYSIS ACCOMPLISHED/ TIME: 0.5 seconds.**_

"_I don't think we should be touching these! Look what happened to hibiki-san!"_

"_He's dead."_

"_Then we shouldn't touch these."_

"_I wonder what this does-" _

He never finished his sentence as he felt his left shin get a death grip and shatter like glass.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The man's agonizing scream ran through the air like an alarm. The younger chunnin looked down in shock and eyes full of surprise as he never saw the armored man move once... But suddenly found himself staring up into an orange visor while his teacher was still screaming and clutching his broken shin. He never felt such extreme pain in his life. He felt the urge to look down and saw the tibia had exited the skin and his shin had shattered under the spartan's powerful crushing grip. The young chunnin managed to jump back as the Spartan reached for him and land back below the rock. John grabbed his light machine gun from next to the man who was going into shock from the pain or blood loss, aimed his rifle to the shinobi's head and put him out of his misery.

**BANG!**

The young chunnin felt his blood run cold as his squad leader's head exploded with blood flying.

He looked back at the younger man and saw he was no older than 17 with the subtle hair on his chin. He had brown hair that was cut straight past his neck with black eyes and gray armor only covering his torso and arms. He had a pouch around his thigh with bandages and looked... Terrified. He was holding a rusty kunai and John could see sweat poring of this boy. His eyes were wide and his hands were clenched around the handle. The master chief could also read the boys heart rate through that armor... And they were off the charts. He simply stared at chief for a few more seconds with widened eyes... Before falling backwards in the large patch of grass, and running off in the distance away from the armored demon into the brush.

Chief rolled his joints and stepped back to the Pelican and his HUD picked up more targets in the distance. John looked through his ammunition to see he had two more clips left for the light machine gun, and full ammunition in his assault rifle. Now he learned one of the moves or abilities they wielded did have an effect on him. While fire had zero effect, earth had minimal effect depending on how well it was used against him, and water could be dangerous if the possibility of being flushed out to see ever happened. John noticed his head warning had softened and saw more and more of the Shinobi... were falling back into retreat.

John, feeling satisfied decided to not chase them down, he had a kid who needed to be taken to the medical wing... and after that he needed to figure out where his home was so he could return him. Looking to his right, John saw the water from the tidal wave not only raised the Pelican out of the mud, but it had washed away all of the excess weight of it making it able to take off once again. John could somehow hear cortana remind him of his luck...John observed the area for any live shinobi in case he could interrogate them and find out why there was a war... But not a single soul was in the area. Just him, and a litter of corpses... Bleeding into the dirt.

Moving past his thought, John stepped toward the Pelican's window and stepped inside. He closed the Pelican doors and activated it's engines by turning a few knobs. He turned on all of the switches inside and prepped for launch toward the Infinity... Wherever it was.. He looked through the back view camera to see how Nawaki was doing, and saw him still asleep in the hanger looking rather pale. John should have put a blanket around the boy so he didn't freeze to death in his conditions. But he didn't have any around on the pelicans back port and time was running out. John activated the Pelican's homing beacon to locate where the hell he was and how long it would take him...

...

...

...

_**T.A. : 2 hours... **_

John disapproved of that notion of time...

Nawaki didn't have 2 hours...

Now it was a race against time...

But John was known to turn the impossible possible with luck...

The Pelican lifted off of the ground carrying large globs of mud, shot above the tree's making them shift back like an arrow, and blasted off into the distance. The Pelican grew smaller and smaller as it parted past the dark blue clouds beneath the stars...

And just like that...It was gone...

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><p><strong>[ An hour later near border of Kumogakure ]<strong>

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><p>Orochimaru stepped out of the forest that was nearly scorched with a broken arm, scratches and bruises around his face. He looked around and saw the sun was near it peak in the sky with several clouds After nearly an eternity of fighting and killing, he had broken away from the Kumo forces. And the mysterious fire that had started. Orochimaru was tired, and suffering from Chakra exhaustion. He also felt... Shitty, to say in the least. He knew this war came with only one answer... Death. That was the overall solution to bloodshed by nations disagreeing with one another to the fullest extent. It would only spur more and more distance between one another, and within the distance apart would contain the foundations of dead bodies who fought for it.<p>

Dying for nothing...

That was the only thing war was based on in Orochimaru's mind... And that was the casualties.

After searching for an hour, Orochimaru came to a conclusion that his subordinates were either killed or captured by Kumo forces. While two of his genin were worth nothing considering they were both raised with citizen families, one of them was a definite prize in the eyes of Kumo and everywhere else around the globe.

The grandson of the first Hokage...

Even Orochimaru would pay for something like that.

He needed to think of his next objective other than leaving for Kumo since search parties would be there any minute. Thinking of where else he could look for any clues, he thought of using a snake summons to locate any signs of Nawaki within the area... But the only possibly scrap of Nawaki he could locate was his necklace... The first Hokage's necklace for that matter. He had found it on the ground where he last saw him... Getting tackled by some green blur. He had searched for his two other members of his genin team Chika and Jiro... But found Chika with a slit throat wrapped to a tree after what seemed he was executed in a brutal fashion. Jiro was found in a Kumo supply camp with hundreds of senbon needles in his back. Orochimaru saw the needles were coated in powerful nerve poison, and a single drop was enough to kill 21 men... Jiro was hit approximately 213 times... Killing him, thousands upon thousnade of times over...

Orochimaru felt as if he was given childs play for students. These boys were nothing more than wealthy citizens who lied their way through school to get the best teachers and become something more within the village. He never truly understood why human's would never take Ninjutsu seriously and adapt to learning something. Until then, no one would earn his respect. The only people who could at least get a fraction of dignity in this world was Hiruzen Sarutobi... And the Uchiha clan's famed Dojutsu.

Orochimaru however stopped his banter when he came across...

A Massacre... A Bloody area...

Bodies littered the large area with small entrance wounds. He saw no living people, or even hear a sound except for a few fires from the burnt tree's that had begun mysteriously earlier. Orochimaru walked over to one of the fallen Kumo members and turned him over, and saw another hole in his head. He looked around and saw more and more men slumped on the ground sunken in the mud mixed with blood. Orochimaru noted he never did this...

Did Konoha send any forces after them?

And if they did, where were they..

*Crack*

Orochimaru's very sensitive ears picked up a sound with the distance among the tree's and made him face that way...

The young Kumo shinobi who had survived the earlier conflict passed out from the intense shock of seeing his sensei be killed by the armored giant. All he remembered was falling against a tree after feeling the strongest urge of quizness and loss of balance. He woke up with the taste of Iron in his mouth and a massive headache. His hair was coated with sweat and he had no idea how long he was out for, but looking toward the sky, he felt it wasn't that long. He was freezing and had a few All he needed to do was-

"_**GENJUTSU: SERPENT BINDING!"**_

The young Kumo shinobi didn't know what happened... But all he felt was cool and smooth ropes wrap around his body. It caught him by surprise as he yelled out in fear. He didn't fall as he was kept firmly in place on the ground. He looked down to see what was constricting him... And saw that it wasn't ropes at all.

It was snakes...

Two.. Very large... Snakes...

He shook in fear as the serpents faces came very close to his own, hissing and bearing there very long fangs. The sun's beams were being blocked by the tree's branches above, but the young kumo shinobi could see one of the snakes was bright yellow, and the second one was a dark blue. They were heavy, and they were crushing his arms. He tried to move his hands and dispel the genjutsu... But couldn't mold his chakra together from the great fear running through his mind. He then found himself upside down as he was levitated from the ground. The snakes end tails wrapped above in the tree's branches and the man saw the ground become smaller and smaller... Then upon the tree trunk came a white man with black hair...

The man with yellow eyes and purple lines. A creepy grin worked his way to his face as he looked at what he caught. Orochimaru had taken a soldier pill to regenerate a small portion of his chakra and saw the young man gasping like a fish from the lack of oxygen going to his lungs. He could also deduce the boy's arms were close to breaking from the odd way they were being bent and the half strength of the snakes. The young man didn't recognize who the man was since he was still trying to register what was going on...

"You are far from home little boy." Orochimaru said.

The young man was shaking.

"What is your name?"

"Shin-Shinji Yotsuki..." The young man said fearfully as he began to recognize the man in front of him. Orochimaru then began a long discussion with the young man who wanted oh so desperately to live..

If the young member of the Yotsuki clan had lived to tell the tale that day, and not be disemboweled by Orochimaru- then he would have heard of the day and told of his survival. But alas, he did not live to tell about the day of the _"SOKO AKUMA"_ who made his appearance in Kumogakure, and the forest near the border. Which had gained the new name as _"The bloody leaves." _from the massacre that happened there that dark night... In that now cursed forest with the souls of the Kumo shinobi...

* * *

><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED...<strong>

**AUTHORS NOTE: I have to say I was glad I got passed this chapter... Anyway you know the drill, leave a review or follow/favorite. Its very appreciated and , take a look at my new Halo/Naruto crossover staring Noble Six who joins Akatsuki as a reserved member. Lastly, I will never argue with a flamer... Because if I do, they will bring me to their level of stupidity and beat me with experience...**

**-Cheers!**


	6. Inevitable Choices

**AUTHORS NOTE: Seriously... Love you guys and gals. The reviews/Favorites/follows are going to make this story... **

**(dramatic pause)**

**Legendary...**

**It's going to be one hell of a ride from here on out. I was inspired to do this by many Halo and Justice league crossover writers and finally... Did it. Anyway, here we go for another awesome chapter. I need ideas or at least some put insight, and some reviewers dude and dudettes. Also, I can't believe I beat Halo: Reach on legendary in almost a week... But someone probably did it in 12 hours or less in their parents basement. But until that person steps forward... A chapter awaits to be read. Now I've felt I made some mistakes with the introduction in the first chapter and have maybe reconsidered re-doing it. If you would like to, please leave a review...**

**XxX**

**DISCLAIMER/HALO BELONGS TO 343 INDUSTRIES WHICH BELONGS TO MICROSOFT THAT IS OWNED BY BILL GATES. NARUTO BELONGS TO KISHIMOTO MASASHI...**

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><p>"<em><strong>You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them."<strong>_

_**-Maya Angelou**_

* * *

><p><strong><strong>Chapter 6: Inevitable Choices...<strong>**

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><p><strong>[Konoha no Satomorgue /24 hours after failed mission in Kumogakure]**

* * *

><p>"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU COULDN'T FIND ANY TRACE OF HIM!" Tsunade screamed as she clutched Nawaki's necklace with her voice cracking slightly.<p>

Orochimaru had returned to Konoha injured and exhausted, lacking any of his subordinates from the mission in Kumo. He was taken in by ANBU and treated by numerous medics from the attack, and told of what happened through a written report. While the council had taken the report to verify it to the hokage, they were in slight disbelief from the report... A reported _"Summons without a contract had eliminated a quarter of the strike team me and my students were sent out to kill" _Confused them to no end. They wanted an explanation of the subject, but had to deal with grieving parents. The parents of the two student were in great despair and quite angry with Orochimaru for not protecting them and requested their bodies . Aside from that, they demanded to see him and get an explanation of the matter. But were denied by Danzo Shimura along with half of the council until further notice...

...But the one in the most shock was none other than Nawaki's sister.

Tsunade Senju's heart rate was nearly through the roof from the news she had just heard. Her eyes were wide and the color had left from her face. If it hadn't been for Jiraiya who was using every muster of strength to hold the slug princess back, Orochimaru would have been dead a thousand times over. "SETTLE DOWN HIME!" Jiraiya was struggling at keeping Tsunade from ripping a new one for Orochimaru... And also making sure his hands didn't go below her waist or above... Since he could very well lose them if he tried anything perverted toward his blond teammate. But in this moment now, pervertedness would only create more trouble for the grieving medic-nin.

Tsunade knew something was wrong when she was lead by Jiraiya on his serious side... She knew something was very wrong when he didn't ask her on a date... She knew something was SERIOUSLY wrong when she saw Orochimaru was inside... A morgue.

The place remakes of death and chemicals as there were only a few light illuminating the darkened inside. The entire inside of the morgue was made of wood and the basement where the cremation or observation tables for the corpses was made Of metal... But Tsunade didn't give a damn what the morgue looked like however, it's just when you were in those moments of excessive anxiety attacks you could memorize every detail of the area... And the smell.

Orochimaru was sitting in a wooden chair outside with his arm in a cast and a tired look upon his face. He had just specifically told the news of Nawaki being stated as M.I.A. during the mission in Kumo. He didn't know what else to say other that he could very well be being your tired right now since this was war... Which he had said and now was becoming the target of Tsunade. "We are at war Tsunade... That is the price for blood... That is lives." Orochimaru cooly said as a smirk graced his pale lips. "You must know that by now."

If Tsunade was mad before, her rage was now at its boiling point since her face had contorted to a new shade of red. She screamed at the top of her lungs and escaped out of Jiraiya's grasp and ran at Orochimaru.

"TSUNADE!"

Tsunade stopped as she turned around to face the silhouette of her sensei and Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. His hands were behind his back and his hat was off. His face held seriousness and was not in the mood for any drama. The bodies were continuing to pile up and no one was winning this war... Only losing shinobi to send out but being replaced at a faster point and being told of those shinobi being marked as M.I.A.

"I DON'T CARE SENSEI-

"Tsunade as your Hokage I order you to leave the premises and report to my office," he roared not having patience to deal with this. Tsunade stopped all banter after she heard her sensei yell at her. He never yelled at her..."Dismissed." Hiruzen ordered making Tsunade's throat clench as tears welled up in her hazel eyes. Her mind felt cold as her insides tighten up. Her fists balled up until she felt her fingernails pierce her hands. She rushed out past him crying softly with her blond hair whipping back and forth into the night.

Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru giving him a glare that said he would not have any of that, before he rushed out for Tsunade hoping to at least calm her down. Hiruzen looked at his ANBU escort and ordered. "Shut the doors and leave us." The ANBU unit nodded affirmingly, before complying to his words.

The two stood in the room standing staring at each other in complete silence...

Until...

"... Your withholding important information Orochimaru. That can be trailed with treason." Hiruzen deduced correctly to his student Orochimaru had been his favorite, but the only part he truly disliked about him was his ruthlessness. It had been degreasing in the years, but Hiruzen blamed the death of Orochimaru's parents to be a main factor to it. Jiraiya had the same issue, being a war orphan himself but his mind was never as cruel as Orochimaru's. Yet he was never as gifted as.

"What gave it away?" Orochimaru stirred after wiping his mouth.

"Considering you have not filled out the part of the report where you killed the son of the head of the Yotsuki clan, that was the only part left out along with the conversation. Now as your Hokage, I need to know all that happens with the shinobi of the hidden leaf... And what that boy said to you before you executed him." Hiruzen said as he clears his mind to take in every detail of information.

"We'll where should I begin?" Orochimaru wheezed out as he adjusted his cast. He was being interrogated by his own sensei, and was feeling uncomfortable at the moment...

"From the beginning..." Hiruzen finished as he narrowed his eyes at his student.

"Aside from my two subordinates being tragically killed, nothing more on that matter..." Orochimaru started as he sat up replaying the memory of what the young shinobi had told him. Hiruzen meanwhile couldn't help but be disgusted by his pupils total lack of humanity and brushed it off for that matter."From what he had told me was something of a armored demon..." Orochimaru began the conversation with his teacher, gaining questioning looks from the aging kage.

And thus, the conversation between the two continued and Master chiefs presence was becoming noticed within the world of Shinobi wielders...

And it would soon turn in one direction...

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><p><strong>[Remnants of UNSC Infinity (2 months) After "KUMO" incident Captains bridge/ 6:23 AM]**

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><p>It was past dawn in the middle of the ocean just a few miles from the land of Kiri. The sun's bright rays beat against the metal on the Infinity as it sat in the ocean, getting beat against the current. The massive war ship looked different as both pieces of the ship that had been split in half, had now been moderately connected with other pieces of the metal hull. The underside of the ship was covered in small patches of barnacles and the metal was showing slight corrosion of rust. The air was around 63 degrees and the ocean air was fresh with a scent of salt. The clouds in the sky were partially there but not thick, in the distance however they were collected in massive clumps. The Infinity on the inside was clean and all of its lights were on, the engine was on powering the generator, and everything seemed quiet... Inside the captains bridge though...<p>

John layed against the wall within the dark bridge of the massive computer room in his armor trying to get at least a moment of sleep. He shifted uncomfortably on the reinforced chair as the peeking sun's rays touched his face. He crossed his arms and looked down obscuring the light while trying to doze off. His arms cam a few inches off of his chest due to the armor but he didn't mind since he had worn the armor for almost a decade, it felt unorthodox to be without it. It had been 2 months since that day in the land known simply as "Kumogakure" which translated to the land hidden in the clouds. Many of the nations John had scanned over looked like countries, but he didn't have much information concerning that topic... John had also recently been not getting much sleep recently with the new "guest" on board needing 24 hour watch. Nawaki Senju had pulled through tremendously in the health department, yet he had not woken up since. Nawaki had proven to be a strong and resilient boy who was clinging to life. John had to sympathize with him because not only did it seem right... But it seemed it had to be. He had taken notes of the boy and discovered tags and papers within the boys pouch. From his I.D. card which was written in Japanese to some of his medical history on the back. Now why would a 12 year old boy need such a thing?

His name was definitely Nawaki. Surname was Senju, weighed 82 pounds, born on August 8, was 4.603 feet, and had only one living relative. His current rank was "Genin." Now John had never heard of such a term... Or a rank for a child in that matter. His ninja resignation number was 005350, and was one of the current heads of the "Senju clan." Now John was becoming more and more confused with these trivial words... All John could deduce from this was Nawaki was a ninja. The card had all of his medical history which was helpful to John since he needed to know Nawaki's blood type, and what type of medicines were unhealthy for him so he didn't accidentally make him sick. Then John had to figure out where Nawaki was stationed at... A village called "Konoha no Sato." John didn't have the slightest idea where Konoha was on this planet... So he would have to investigate that later on into the week.

Earlier when John had arrived on the Infinity, he nearly bashed the doors open to the medical center and get Nawaki prepared to the machines for life support. John had never used any of the serious advanced medical technology onboard, or anywhere else in that matter except for the biofoam cannisters. But it had proven to be self sufficient in all cases and quite simple... Currently, Nawaki's infection never began after John had removed all of the shrapnel with Nawaki's torso and cleaned the wound. He also managed to salvage what nerve he could in Nawaki's legs and replace much of the damaged bone with metal plates... But strangest of all, the cells with his leg seemed to have been multiplying. John looked through the boy's blood and saw nothing remotely out of the question... Or detected anything... All he could find out was... Nawaki loved to eat a lot of sugar... Candy that is.

Nawaki's stumped hand had been re-attached after John had collected it off the ground and melded the nerve back to the hands current dead one. In fact, it was the nerve that held it attached while it was swaying back and forth while they were trying to escape. It was lucky that the hand had never been detached while the scuffle was happening, otherwise he would have lost it. John was lucky to have reattached it with what little time he had. But Nawaki had pulled through. He had made a mental promise to himself that he would save the boy when he knocked him away from the bombs blast..

And when he made a promise...

He would keep it... until his very last breath.

But within the last week John had been thinking of his visit with Hamura... The near omnipotent being who reminded him of the child of prophecy... John thought maybe Nawaki was the child of prophecy. There was continuous mentions of a child. But then again dreams could happen more than once with changes. Hamura and Hagoromo could have been the same person for all he knew... But right now that didn't matter. Right now John was in a war with himself and his sanity of choices. The war had taken it's toll on John's mind as he remembered the yells of pain from the man he killed, and the look in that woman's eyes when he killed her in the dark forest... It was nerve racking to keep seeing and hearing these things when you were trying to sleep but in the end didn't get any. Or the feeling of something following you.

Since he couldn't get much sleep, John had been teaching himself how to speak Japanese. Since his armor came with a translator within the helmet he was good in receiving information... But giving it or trying to replicate it was a different story.

After about 4 days of taking care of Nawaki, and not having many hours of sleep. John had been staying up going through language tutor on one of the computers within the ship's personal library. John had nearly been up for 147 hours reading, re-typing, and summing up words as best he could. Whenever he would miss a word, he was administered a small shock in his armor. The pain was apparently good to help learn...

But to John all he felt was a flick to his skin.

Within a span of one month, John had learned over 40,000 thousand words and managed to speak in partially full sentences. His grasp on the language was acceptable, but not that great.

John growled as he rubbed his darkened, crusty eyes and looked beyond the sea through the glass portion of the main window. Darkened bags hung to his eyes and his lips were chapped. He didn't know whether to leave his sanctuary of the only reminder of his universe... But he felt constricted to it. Now and then when he was making his daily rounds in the massive armory... He thought he would see Cortana walking though the weapon section. He would stare at her for a split second before she would vanish almost instantaneously. It made no sense to him for seeing things... But he believed as if she was connected to the Infinity as well... John had been in the armory to recount any missing or his overall ammunition, weapons,to make sure he had enough to last him. The infinity had around 17 individual armories with hundreds of cases holding thousand of ammunitions. Altogether, he had enough ammo for a medium sized state. It had gun stations to reconstruct his weapons or repair them if they should ever be damaged... If he had the knowledge. He searched through one armory and found a vault.

He searched through one of the documents concerning what the vault was holing and found out it housed hundreds and hundreds of... forerunner weapons. There were probably confiscated off Requiem once the knights were dealt with after John had cleared a path for the marines toward the didact. The promethean weapons were locked down tight with a heavy access vault and a password was needed, failure after 3 attempts resulted in the promethean weapons to be destroyed... This might have been the smartest defensive measure from the engineers, due to the fact the forerunner weapons being extremely dangerous. They were meant to do one thing and one thing only...

To erase all organisms.

John determined that the Promethean weapons would have to wait until he gathered more clues. He didn't exactly need them at the moment, and had hundreds of other weapons to use. Plus, considering the Promethean weapons were meant for containment of the flood and John was relieved that it was not in this universe... They weren't at all needed at the moment. Bullets were beneficial as is.

But that was not all, John had discovered not only Promethean weapons within a vault in the armory... But thousands of Covenant weapons.

Apparently the UNSC and O.N.I. had kept a few secrets from John as well... The fact that they had kept secrets from John didn't faze him at all. He didn't know if it was a secret or not, and truly didn't care... But when it concerned plasma weapons...

That was a different story.

Now John had been most accustomed with UNSC weapons most of his life, but in most cases he had no choice but to use them only if absolutely necessary. But to him he loathed using them, they were the weapons that had killed billions of innocent lives and destroyed countless planets. But a weapon was a weapon, they had saved his life on multiple occasions. Yet John could still feel the burning sensation on his skin from where the plasma fire had struck him in the past. John was easily able to get in through the vault by reassessing the code over and over again until the vault ultimately failed.

Not to mention the thousands upon thousands of armor pieces that could be reconstructed to different customs from Spartan 2,3,4 armor sets. Although John had no idea how to repair them or even construct them, he had around 23 MJOLNIR power armor suits models beside hundreds of custom armor just had to learn a way to repair these thing if it should ever happen... Which could and would happen unpredictably in the coming weeks. John was used to engineers prescribing him the latest armor fits and not to mention latest models. But John only had learned to remove and put on his armor by manually screwing all the bolts in after countless sleepless nights. He counted all the bolts that he had screwed in one night alone... And it went on to 361 individual screws...

John groaned as his gloved hand wiped over his face to hopefully make him stay awake. Sleeping was becoming more of a downside to seeing light, because when you're tired all you want to see is darkness. Nothing else... Period. John tried sleeping in the beds and living quarters but felt unrelaxed in those blankets and soft mattresses. He breathed in as he stood up, and grabbed his helmet. He picked up his assault rifle and left the bridge through the sliding metal hands wrapped tightly to a small chain in his hand as he walked down the hallway... Attached to the chain was Cortana's former chip.

* * *

><p><strong>[ Infinity Mess Hall 6:59 AM]**

* * *

><p>John sat at one of the hundreds of cold steel benches lined in the massive mess hall. He was currently having a bowl of MRE Oatmeal with a side of eggs. The warm creamy substance was good as it went down his throat... But not really filling and satisfying. John had maintained a regular diet of a few thousand calories a day since his exercises burned up those calories within hours due to the enhancements. But once in a while John enjoyed the small natured meals, he didn't know why though. He had never been a exquisite when it came to food, but was thankful he had any food to begin with. During missions he would have a few minutes to down something before covenant troops would attack their base camp. Or sometimes he wouldn't eat for days... But he was thankful for the massive refrigeration unit held enough food for up to 5 years... But since he was only the one onboard and not 17,151 crewmembers on it had been boosted to over 22 years. Freshwater was no problem either. Since he had crashed into the ocean, massive drains regulated on the lower left portion and converted sea-water into fresh water by purifying thousands of gallons a day.<p>

John wiped his lips with a paper napkin before looking back at cortana's chip that sat next to him on the table, approximately a few inches away. He had found it in his previous armor that was damaged by the didact in his side pack, and had kept it on him at all times when he found it.. He felt entitled to the feeling of it in his helmet... It felt right to keep it there... and he wouldn't feel alone at all times without it. He didn't know why he wanted to keep it... But to him it was all he had left to Cortana other than her memory. John picked it up and took his plate to the role machine behind the counter of the kitchen. He placed the dish in the massive washer before activating it making the machine begin it's rinse cycle and leaving.

John now began walking to Nawaki's in the medical wing section as he exited the hallway and began walking towards the far right side of the ship and passed along windows, and computers. Everything electrical onboard was running and some of the computers were showing navigations... Of nothing since there weren't any radio frequency towers. He continued the long paced walk until it finally paid off as he arrived at the medical glass sliding doors reading "**OSMOTIC**" in bright blue letters. He looked through the front windows that entered the lobby and thought for a second...

He _thought _saw Fred sitting there behind the main desk in his dark blue armor looking at John ... Smiling. John ceased all motion as he stopped to collect his thoughts before he saw he was currently staring at... a potted plant. John ignored the sight before walking past the sliding glass doors and walked down the bright pure white hallway. Seeing people in the corner of his eye was happening more than often and was beginning to take a toll at his sanity. Sleeping had become increasingly difficult as the days went on. Walking on the ship made him see people... But very realy until 3 weeks ago when it became a daily nuisance.

John walked passed a few abstract paintings and doors with keypads lit up green before making another turn into the bright hall. He remembered where he layed Nawaki since his injuries were quite severe, he was placed in the ICU which was another section stationed off from anything except John.

John made it passed the regular doors before going passed another pair of doors after opening them. He entered the final hallway before he opened the very last door. He twisted the handle and opened it.. He was met with the smell of disinfectants scent in the air and a sight of Nawaki wrapped almost like a mummy from the excess burns which were 100% healed. John walked over to unwrap Nawaki's face and showed not a single scratch... But one scar above his left eyebrow. That would be the remainder of his mission that he was almost killed on. When John had slammed into him, a crack but small one appeared on his skull. John had performed a small incision above his eyes and used "Bone-Glue" on him to patch it. No brain damage was found.

His hair and body had been cleaned from scratches, dirt, sweat, ash, and the bruises were nearly gone from special creams applied. Nawaki had also a tube connected to his mouth giving him air. His vitals were stable and he was currently in a medically induced. John calmly walked over to Nawakis side and pressed the thermometer up to the side if his head. After 3 seconds the cool metal retracted and read "98.6" on the pad. John placed it on the table next to the bed connected to the brain scanner. He reached for a glass writing pad and began writing down Nawakis status after the past 61 days. John looked over the previous notes he had written and saw that it had been days since Nawaki was declared healthy...

Yet he hadn't woken up.

John placed down the pad before checking the brain scanner. The large white steel machine sat on the left of Nawakis bed beeping and visualizing his brains activity. Nawaki was currently in the "blue" zone which meant he was safe. There were currently 5 colors on the health spectrum. Blue meant no problem or any anomalies, yellow meant there were some slight discomfort, orange meant he was in pain, red meant he was in unbearable pain, and gray meant there was no activity at all... Which meant he was dead.

John looked at the boy a minute longer before having a thought...

If Nawaki hadn't been saved by him... What could have been the outcome, and what was the outcome of more before him or after?

Was this planet really that instant of winning a war by sending inexperienced children to their demise? Now while this claim made the UNSC sound like a hypocrite since they did the same thing, the UNSC gave the children excessive training, along with augmentations to the spartans. This kid fell for one of the oldest tricks in the books...

And that was impatience...

Nawaki had literally run off into battle without even looking where he was going. That was the biggest mistake you could do in any battle maybe that was a test given to him by his teacher, Oro something. Orchie? Orocim? John couldn't remember the name since it happened so fast, but the sensei had deliberately sent his student out to die...

Cruel, Yes.

A good reminder to all future gennin, definitely.

While John was good at the whole fact of reality, his standards didn't go as low to killing his own men. His own Drill instructor Franklin Mendez would have bowed his head in shame at the thought of it. His instructors gave one simple rule, mendez did. The one simple piece of advice that would pull through every obstacle..

"_You don't win until your team wins..."_ Mendez's authoritative voice range through John's mind like an unstoppable echo. That question was up to debate in John's mind now, whether Mendez was currently living in the onslaught universe with the didact rampant. John had been going mad with these inquiries revolving certain people within his life. He had lost the last of his friends when blue team were exterminated. He had thought of Catherine Halsey since she was his mother like figure within his life, Franklin Mendez who had put faith into him and his recruitment during the training and had been there for them every step of the way... Until he pushed them.

John had followed his famous quotes ever since he was on the training boot camp on Reach. It was nostalgic as it was gratifying in John's thoughts. All he could sum up from his past experiences was that he was grateful to have the teachers he had, and was thankful to have fought with some of the bravest people he would have ever known. While the Human race barely survived the onslaught with the Covenant and barely made it through the attack of the composer on New Phoenix, they remained strong even when times seemed darkest...

But in this world...

It lacked... It lacked...

John felt himself staring into the window of the hospital room where pure white blinds hooked onto the cold steel walls. This world lacked many necessities to what it properly took to being deceptive. The shinobi in this world were powerful, as they were cunning with illusions and mind tricks. But John had the ace up his sleeve within the entire fight. That was experience from decades of struggle, and year of losses that have hardened him. John heard a shutter and looked over at the sleeping form of Nawaki as his machine kept him active with the continuous "Beeps" and beside the IV attached to his left arm. He took off his helmet and looked out the window toward the ocean rhythmic beats against the current that went on for miles upon miles.

"_You know how to pick them John."_

John spun around to where the familiar voice was but looked around the metal room to see no one. It caught him off guard and nearly spooked him... Because that voice was something his past had been all over. He looked toward the ceiling to see anything out of the ordinary and then back at the window. He walked over to it and checked again as he kept in a slow pace backwards to see anyone or anything... But saw no one... John's mind

"_Over here cowboy." _

The voice nearly made John clutch his heart. It's aching and throbbing pain struck every nerve within Johns insides. Hearing her voice made his skin crawl and his mouth become increasingly dry. He quickly turned toward the left to where the voice was emitting from in the large room and found himself looking in a glass mirror... Only it wasn't his reflection he caught himself looking at... It was the glowing luminescent being from his past that had created it all...

Cortana...

"Cortana." John's dry voice broke through as he stood frozen looking into Cortana's piercing vibrant eyes. Like a ghost John nearly choked when Cortana's hand reached out of the mirror for him and lightly on his armored chest. He was now really starting to question whether or not this was all some dream...She stepped out of the mirror and looked up at him with a smile. Her eyes blinked and she softly rested her head on his chest plate while muttering. _"You wanted me John... and here I am." _She whispered loud enough John could hear. John could feel his face twitching by the curve of his mouth... But he remained vigilant. He didn't know how to react to this. He had a small feeling he wanted to push her off and find out what was going on... But it had been so long since he had heard her voice that he was caught in its captivating simphony... John kept staring in front of him while seeing the outline glow of Cortana's blue hair in his vision before he said.

"What should I do?" John said to the being. This wasn't Cortana, he knew that much. But Just once he would hear what she would say.. referring to his overall mission now... He had no way home, which was established earlier and would continue to play it over and over again. Cortana didn't look up and John ony stood still waiting for an answer... What seemed like an eternity John summed up enough energy to repeat himself.

"_John."_

"Yes."

"_Home... Has to wait."_

"Cortana... What does-

"_-Until you keep your promise."_ She said as she looked up at him. John didn't understand what she meant until she looked back at Nawaki resting in bed breathing slowly but heavily. _"You didn't keep your promise yet... Not until he's safe." _The way she said it rocked John to his core. Hearing her voice again was painful as it was blissful to him. Nawaki looked like he was in pain as he was strapped to those machines. John wish he didn't want to see him like this again... It was frankly the second most painful thing for John to muster, and that was seeing civilians injured. Which was odd to John... Having this feeling once again..

Again...

Wait...

Was she suggesting that he-

John looked down to ask her what she had meant but saw no one there. His face contorted to a deep frown as he placed his helmet back on and the HUD lit up. John's chest flt as if it were hollow and quickly deepening as Cortana's words played over in his head like a scratched record. He looked back into the mirror and saw his own reflection. His eyes were dark and his cheeks were nearly sunken in. His face showed a five o'clock shadow as he had not shaved in the last 3 days. He stared at it a little bit longer before leaving the medic wing... And Leaving Nawaki in the bed as he slept...

But as he slept his left index finger twitched slightly underneath the white bed sheet, and his eyes fluttered a little but remained calm...

* * *

><p><strong>[ARMORY 12:31 PM]**

* * *

><p>Inside the massive armory was rows of steel cages housing some of... No.. The only guns on the entire planet. Inside was a bench for the firearms, a armor fitting station, and every wall was lined with guns. John had tried to open one but found out the "security" resulted in getting electrocuted. John however found the access key on the metal floor beside a pile of dust which could have more than likely been the armory runner. John gained access to the UNSC standard weapons and under side docking systems full of Covenant weapons...<p>

After 2 hours of rethinking strategies for almost a perpetuity of time and almost an hour of reloading some weapons, John had formulated a plan. Before he was the leader of blue team, probably one of the most leading and successful sub-unit's formed by the UNSC. He had made difficult choices in the past to save thousands but costed him his friends... That being Samuel-034 in the Chi Ceti system after he sacrificed himself to blow up a covenant cruiser. Then there was the death of John's close ally Kurt-051 on the planet of Onyx...But to every choice he made came a compromise... John knew the facts that remained. He was in theists of a dispute between nations and foreign affairs with many people dying. He didn't know how the war started but he didn't really care. Plus he didn't know where to access that type of information when you were a walking tank. John had never really thought of remotely anything else in his life on his own other than the missions for the UNSC... Other than the one on Requiem of course.

John had also been in the launching bay making small repairs to many of the vehicles and making tune ups. He had also planned to dismantle the frigates in order to add them to the Infinity or possibly make them up again since they were nearly underwater in the lower section of the Infinity. So unless John could somehow lift up a 300 ton frigate out of the water, it wasn't moving anywhere anytime soon. He could possibly dismantle it... But he would need more hands to work with.

John walked out of the armory and into the launching bay and placed another weapon inside the side compartment of UNSC Exoatmospheric Multi Role Strike fighter. After his last few missions with flying the Pelican he was going to be using something that gained more than enough speed. John had barely made it to save Nawaki's life in just the Pelican, but he needed something fast in case he was caught in something he wouldn't know how to handle. Reality had not been making very much sense as of lately and he was beginning to become very paranoid of the outcome of not being ready to face something worth being dangerous... Although the lightning attack on him nearly killed him. When he had removed his armor, the lightning had scorched a direct line up his back and on the back of his head. Creating an ugly new scar...He was lucky the lightning had not short circuited his armor completely or paralyzed him.

He had to become more wary of what was going to come...

For example, if he had not taken the Didact seriously until he tried everything in his power to kill him; then he would have been dead the very first second he met him... Everything John had thrown at him either bounced off or just chipped a little of his pride away... It was a futile in almost every way. He was a entirely invulnerable..But that plan would had to wait. The Didact's upcoming demise in the future would have to wait. John enjoyed patience as much as he disliked mathematics when he was a child. But there was simply nothing he could do at the moment.

He was making a direct illegal action against ONI regulations which could have gotten him court martialed and more than likely prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But since the UNSC had a statute of limitations in one universe...

John would have to ignore their orders... Just once...

At first he had wanted nothing to do with foreign affairs since he had no interest in meddling with business that wasn't his. Also it was forbidden strictly by UNSC and ONI to do such things without legal authorization of the admiral. Not to mention there was a 3 day waiting period, had to be signed off by the directing member of the Office of Naval Intelligence. But if he pulled through with this and if information ever leaked back to his home he would probably have committed the second biggest crime in his career... Becoming AWOL.

He had made a promise to Cortana... The real one that is during their final tall at the destruction of the composer, is that he would protect her... But in order to protect her now he had to protect himself in sake of her memory. But how would he protect himself by jumping face first into a war?

In clouded mind, he was determined of at least getting some minimal information concerning the war. He didn't know where he would find any, but the closest are to the Infinity was that very misty town he arrived to months before when he first engaged the men and women using water "Ninjutsu" after re-reading the articles, he had learned of different elemental Jutsu's... Which was the same thing he had read on weeks prior. He needed to know what grounds the nations stood for the war and what positions of the war were in. A map of the world would be needed as well...

John thought after his one and only appearance in the town he needed to find someone within control and try to negotiate to terms for information... But negotiating was not one of his strongest suites. His tactical approach was surveillance, leading teams, defending, charging, and deploying bombs... Not negotiating... The only time he had ever negotiated or at least speak to the enemy is when he was captured by Howard Graves who lead the insurrectionists as it's General numerous years before his death by Kurt. It would be a difficult and complex mission... Which was trying to avoid an attack from a nation.

John clicked his mind when he was thinking of his course of action and remembered that he needed to go in a different direction by taking off...

The Exoatmospheric Multi Role Strike fighter had to be launched by going to a connecting dock since it didn't take off like an ordinary Pelican. John walked toward the elevator on the far side of the launching bay carrying a shotgun. As he was reloading it slowly, the elevator quickly lowered him until it got to the lower deck...

Which was partially filled with saltwater. The entire lower deck of the launching had been partially damaged as the hull bent and rocked some of the jets, but not too severely. The light above came on with a hum and the water was present more than 50 feet below the launching line. He however saw the Jet he was looking for still on the launching pad with the exit going upward, out of the water. John loaded another slug into the slot of the M45 Tactical Shotgun and pumped the fore-end as he walked on the catwalk toward the jet. He placed the weapon in the black compartment before closing the side lid, and locking it. He checked his forearm readings and saw that Nawaki was still asleep inside the medical room with his breathing and heart reading sterilized. John switched off the camera before entering the Jet and closing the airtight glass windshield. He pressed the few necessary buttons on the right side and prepped for launch as the buttons in front lit up. The Jet's engine began to roar and shot forward through the exit bay down the long narrow path.

John braced himself as the Jet made an upward loop and shot outside like a bullet to a handgun. The engines kicked started before the jet hit super speed. John switched on normal speed before the Jet slowed down significantly and rose slowly above the clouds. John looked over the side and saw the two pieces of the warship down below... John then took the same route he did before months prior...

* * *

><p><strong>[15 Minutes later  3,400 yards within Kirigakure]**

* * *

><p>The misty land hundreds of feet below had not changed at all since John's memory. John lowered midway toward the ground but kept the jet within the clouds to make sure no one took notice of him. He flipped the sound dimmer and let the engines become almost noiseless from 50 feet. The land still looked wet and damp down below.. aside from the countless bodies on the ground seen from the radar sound scanner. John himself couldn't see much, but the scanners on the Jet could see all within a 3 mile radius and some captured most of the activity happening 3 kilometers toward the east. Meaning he would have to avoid an all out situation with the Shinobi and kunoichi. John prepped for a drop as he loaded two M7 caselessSubmachine guns on his thighs, and made sure to set the Jet on auto/pilot. The black gun-box from the outside could also be accessed from the inside and revealed 5 different weapons from his choosing by re-opening it inside the cockpit. John chose a standard assault rifle, two multi-purpose frag grenades and opened the back compartment to the main part to his safety landing...

A Jet pack.

John wasn't going to risk landing in the mud and sinking again like last time, his weapons both needed cleaning and needed to be dismantled to get any residue of pebbles out of the barrel. John prepared for a drop as he snapped the Jet pack onto his armor which applied more weight to him adding another 250 pounds. He looked over where he was landing before he saw a city like outline coming up fast on the radar. John didn't want to land miles away and he didn't want to land directly on top of the foreign city and get mistaken as hostile. Plus, he didn't want to leave Nawaki unattended by himself on the Infinity.

Seeing that he was over his designated drop zone, John quickly pressed the lower hatch button making him feel weightless before free falling hundreds of feet above the ground. John heard the wind whip outside his armor and heard it whizzing outside at nearly a hundred mph. He saw the strike fighter ascend into the clouds. One of of his training routines counted dropping from the atmosphere, and it wouldn't be the last time he did it. Around 30 feet the rockets on John's back shot out slowing his fall significantly slow down before he steadied the packs boosters. John moderately landed in the soft rocky hill with his boots and looked down at the ground.

He looked up and listened for any sign of the strike fighter...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

_"Good."_ John thought as he began jogging forward toward the cliffs edge. He looked behind him to see he was on a tall hill that went directly to the ocean behind him. He turned forward to see the outline of the village... He needed to enter stealthily, and the strike fighter was surprisingly quite at a certain height above the ground. Making it easier to go in unnoticeable... He began walking for before thinking over...It was smart that he had made sure not to overuse the speed which would have alerted the... Massive town?

John slowed his speed and blinked his blue eyes behind his visor as he stepped over to the very edge of the cliff; gazing upon the village. From what he could make out out of the mist that was partially clear was it was massive... This was truly the first time he had seen the village for the first time and not just an assortment of houses. Trees and bogs lined the outer area and massive buildings with rock structures surrounded them covered in trees on the very top. But when John took a better look he saw that were buildings. In the distance past the mist he could see tall mountains creating shadows. There what looked like small shops or homes lined the corners of the tall structures... John also payed mind that there were no citizens roaming the streets, and it was very quiet minus the sound in the great distance. He took glimpse of a large building was in the very center of the village with a symbol was on the very top of it.

John also noticed some of the buildings had crumbled down... No scratch that, it was in ruins. Some of the shops were smashed, structures had giant dents in them from being hit by something. Not to mention John could see some shiny but bizarre slime covering the buildings. But there was an odd trail that ran deep within the ground of the forests with smashed trees and looked like it became liquefied... Almost as if someone had poured acid all over these areas...

It seemed whenever John entered some type of village, city, town there would be some type of destruction was sure to follow there...

John equipped his weapon after taking in enough supervision and looked down at how far the drop was. It was around 23 foot drop and saw it wasn't that steep. He jumped off it before sliding down the rocky hill hill and entered the heavy brush. John observed his surrounding for cover and noticed there was an abundance of sturdy tree's, thick shrubbery around the small area. The shrubbery he was in connected to the outside of the village and what connected to the ocean. He took cover behind a tree before peeking past it to take a glance into the desolate town. John saw no readings within his scanners distance and took a few cautious steps forward. He held his rifle steady and his breathing low. John then saw a red blue on his scanner before he ducked down when he saw a few shinobi popped into distance beside him in a puff of smoke. John was only a few feet away when he dropped behind a shrub keeping his assault rifle steady. John didn't know exactly how they did that since his scanner would catch them, but they had nearly outran the scanner. But due to his careful scanning eyes he could see them as they had quickly moved across his scanner like a blur...

_"Super-speed?" _John thought of. Until one of the shinobi said out loud.

"There..." The man wheezed out as cold sweat dripped down his chin. He had blue hair in braided strands with a lower mouth mask covering his face and the standard shinobi outfit. It was fitted with a dark gray under suit with a headband, a gray flak jacket, sandals, and a white sash around his neck . "I think we lost it." One of them said with black hair as he was panting and sporting a few scratches around his face. He leaned against the tree John was next to and slid down. He gripped his forearm and began massaging it. "I think I broke my arm." He said as his hand pressed against his forearm and it began to glow a green. He wheezed for a minute as his hand on the broken side. John looked in slight interest at the odd glowing effect. "Any ideas now, because I'm still trying to figure out how a tailed beast got in through the defense."

"The five tails should never be taken lightly, we were lucky to get away." Another one said with gray hair making John listen in to their conversation. Tailed beast? What did that mean? A weapon of some sorts? What on earth were these men discussing...

"Until we recover with 2nd division we won't be able to make dent in that thing."

"All we can do now is figure out a counter attack of some sorts or fallback." One of the shinobi said making the other one look at him in bewilderment.

"Did you not just hear me Goro? The five tails just wiped out a fraction of the Hōzuki clan become dissolved by him, and you want to go back there!?" A older man yelled making John interested in the heated discussion between the two.

"What do we do then! Tell me that! What do we do?" The man now identified as Goro yelled back with anger in his voice

"We run!" He pointed to the distance."There's no hope left until we re-group to seal it or lead it outside the village!" John listened to the livid man.

"And what about Ame's forces? We can't just let them escape-

The older shinobi rudely cut him off. "And do what against almost 200 Ame forces? Just run out in the open?"

Goro looked at him for a minute until the other man said out loud. "We should split up-

"No."

"Hayate this isn't about regrouping anymore. It's about saving the most lives before our own."

"Neither is getting us killed by the three-tails Noboru..." Hayate trailed off as he could hear some booms in the distance. The booms began a low rumble as it grew louder and louder. John could hear its loud roar from where he was sitting and grew increasingly anxious... It didn't sound like any machinery he had worked with... But had something that reminded John of the rimal animals on Reach. The Gúta, that what they were called. Nearly 20 feet tall with massive tusks to tear people in half with. While relatively dangerous, the Gúta in John's opinion were very effortlessly to kill. A single shot with a sniper rifle would have been able to take a full one down...

They were all wiped out after Reach ws glassed...

Did this planet have something similar to those animals on Reach?

While the idea could be left open minded, John had to listen to what the men were saying.

"If we split up, we might have a small chance of covering more ground if the three tails catches up."

"We need to do something quick, I think I hear it!" Goro loudly exclaimed before Hayate punched him hard in the stomach...Hard. Chief continued to detect massive sound readings within the distance giving off enough noise to rival a Pelican taking off. John thought maybe this world had some sort of technology.. Like a vehicle or something moving. It had to be the only description to all the massive trails around the forests, and buildings devastation. The slime however was a different story, John didn't know what was the explanation to what caused that...

"Be... Quiet..." Hayate warned threateningly as they both felt the ground begin to shake. Goro clutched his stomach as he tried to halt his fit of coughing and wheezing. Noboru jumped in the branch of a tree and looked into the city with a grave look... Hayate reached for something in his pack and unrolled a very long iron cable. He wrapped the a foot of it around his wrist before throwing the other half into the distance. "Goro, head over to the toward the end near the library there," he pointed behind Goro toward the partially destroyed library outside the brush within the village. "and take a right toward the underground sewer system. You do know where that is don't you?" Goro nodded in agreement.

"Good. Me and Noboru will head toward the south."

"What about you against splitting up?"

"We have no choice, the six tails is almost upon us." Hayate finished as he shushuned away, then Noboru began sprinting along the top of the trees, and Goro walked passed by chief without noticing him and kept his back facing him. While John remained completely still he had a bit of an idea. He stepped up as he quietly clipped the assault rifle and unsheathed his knife...

In the blink of an eye, John grabbed Goro in a choke hold with one arm wrapped around his neck, and held the knife close to his throat. Goro's heart rate quickened significantly as he felt cold amor press against the bottom of his face, the back of his head bumped on something hard, and something very sharp into his neck. His first thought was is that he was captured by Ame shinobi and he was going to be killed.. His hands wrapped around the arms choking him tried to pry it off. But the metal arm didn't move a single inch and his thoughts were flashing before his very eyes.. Goro knew he would die in battle... But he didn't think so soon. He looked down slightly to see the man's arm was quite massive... And held green armor?

John quickly began remembering what words he could speak before summing up what he learned. "You... quiet..." He said slowly, making sure he felt Goro agree. "Tell me where am." Again, it wasn't easy to memorize the entire Japanese language within a few week period. His knowledge on interrogation was not blunt at all. He had been given excessive torture techniques training when being taught by several psychological warfare instructors during his training days. He had been taught thousands of techniques.. But had only used two in the past during an interrogation with insurrectionists. The main idea for pain and suffering was to push someone beyond their breaking point without pushing them too far. Someone past their breaking point would land them to a shattered mind and John would not be getting anything. However, since something was arriving very soon... He had have to make this quick.

"What nation are you for?" Goro asked quietly. He had never seen Ame shinobi wear armor this thick before.

"I'm the one asking... Now where am I?" John used a different tone in his voice. Very calm and straightforward... But very quite to a point of him whispering. Making his gravely voice seem like the voice of a monster...

"Kirigakure... Village of the Hidden mist." Goro questioned as his left hand slowly reached toward John's wrist to see if he could make him drop the knife. In the wrist are seven small individual bones, that if pressed in the right places could make the hand follow the attackers whim. John however saw this and pressed the knife harder onto Goro's neck. Goro's hand stopped slightly. "Don't... Do that." John said slowly as he remembered what the lessons had taught him and the language. Goro's neck and arms tensed as he tried to formulate another plan. John could read his heartrate seem to fluctuate whenever he tried something, so the very moment it sped up he would know the Kiri shinobi was up to something.

"What were you running from?" John asked as he looked into the village and the massive devastation from what he could not explain. It couldn't have been a bomb, or troops, and vehicles were out of the question.

Goro didn't answer..

John sheathed his knife in the shoulder holster and grabbed the man by both of his arms with his back still facing him. He began to pull his arms apart to a certain point of snapping the man's clavicle. Goro groaned as he felt muscles begin to separate and wondered how strong this man was. Eventually, Goro answered. "It was the six tailed slug, it came here as an attack from Amegakure." Goro said as his face began turning red from suppressing the urge to scream out in pain as he felt the man's massive hands crush his wrists and feel his shoulders about to snap. John didn't know what a six tails was and felt like he didn't need to ask since one was on its way very shortly. "Who leads Kirigakure?" John needed to know who was in charge of this village so he could possibly find information... The reason why he was conducting this torture was to gain information, and so this shinobi wouldn't attack John.

"Its the Sandaime mizukage ..But he's not here...uggghhhh..." Goro groaned as he became weak in the knees from the pain. Chief saw that he was lying by his heart rate speeding up again. He turned him around and got a first view of the the master chief. Lets just say Goro was not expecting to be looking at a faceless orange visor, attached to a man completely made out of metal. "What in kami's name." Goro was never in his life expecting to see this. A man wrapped head to toe in very thick and heavy looking armor. His stature was almost like a giant... Or possibly a golem. The only warrior who would wear such armor were the samurai in the distant Land of Iron under their generals rule. Goro felt his breath hitch when John stood fully up and said. "Don't lie... It won't help." Goro shook his head. "I'm not lying." He said quickly, not giving the armored being any eye contact.

_Wrong answer._

Master chief gripped the man by the neck and held him off the ground making him choke as his windpipe was cut off. Goro struggled to formulate a plan as he felt his feet not touching the ground anymore and tried to clear his mind. "Where is he?" John said as he dug his fingers into the man's throat making small bruises to form. The Kiri shinobi said nothing but began to smirk. But before John could do anything the man yelled out. **"FIRE STYLE: DRAGON BREATH!" **Goro's chest puffed out directly before he spat a stream of flame into Johns face. Goro continued and continued to pour chakra into the Jutsu to make the man let go and possibly hinder the grip on his neck... But after a couple seconds, just a few seconds, a massive gloved hand pressed up against Goro's mouth. Goro's entire face contorted to pain and he screamed silently in agony as the flames were still lit in his mouth and burned the inside. His cheeks began to melt away showing his teeth beginning to fall out of his gums, and his tongue began to shrivel up to nothing. Master chiefs helmet was completely fine from the flame... slightly burned but nothing serious. He looked at the man trying to grasp to any life he had as his esophagus began closing up from the burns... John then didn't the only sensible thing he could do.

**CRUNCH!**

The shinobi's head fell to the side as John released the pressure to his neck after breaking it with a bit of pressure. His entire mouth and a good portion of his jaw began to melt away from the flames he attempted to attack chief with. Since his entire mouth melted, Chief wasn't going to be getting any information from him. He had a plethora of other techniques he could have used to get what he had wanted, but that stunt sealed Goro's fate. Chief reminded himself that he forgot to check on the man's hands since that's how they completed these Jutsu's, with an assortment of hand signs.. He reprimanded himself that this man could have done something hazardous. He had to always make sure to secure their hands when dealing with a Shinobi. He was lucky though it wasn't a lightning or earth jutsu since that could have involuntarily given away his position.

John looked behind him to see the flames had passed through him and lit some of the tree's on fire and burned the wet grass below him. And when there was fire there was smoke, and smoke brought a lot of attention. He either needed to leave the area quickly and hope no search teams would come for looking for one of them, or hope another smoke cloud was in the sky as well. But in Chief's mind it clicked when he remembered through the misty atmosphere it would cover all the smokes trail... So he was safe in that department.

John dropped the shinobi like a sack of potatoes as he fell back hitting the tree, before sliding to the right side slumped... John looked to into the street's of the village and saw the library. The library's entire right potion looked like it had been blasted on the outside which left an enormous hole to the inside. The roof was fine and the few steps into it had some brick pieces from the wall. It was a small looking building with a large window which looked fine. He looked on both sides before stepping over the corpse and beginning to sneak into the street's. He stepped out of the brush and down a steep dirt hill onto the stone road ,walking slowly with his assault rifle trained forward to any surprises... before hearing something down the road to his left...

It sounded like a sound squishing sound next to the sound of sizzling. On his HUD scanner a massive life form could be seen, it was wide and large. John could see various shapes and shadows in the distance but couldn't see through the thick mist. The odd outline was round with two spheres from his vision... And quite tall. His curiosity was getting the better of him from the weird figure, but he decided to avert his attention to the library,that was filled with numerous information that could benefit to his search. Maps, logs, reports, anything would work. He needed anything that could be used to gain a lead to the wars, and locations of villages so he wouldn't be walking blind...

_It was only a few yards away... while the __thing__ was just down the road._

Chief didn't know what it was...

And he didn't want to find out. Something about it... Made him feel weary.

Ever so carefully and quietly ... John quickly walked forward to the front of the library making sure to not let his metal footsteps not cause any noise. It was short journey before he went up to the hole on the side of the library. He stepped over the 4 foot ledge and over the pile of rubble before he finally set foot inside the dark bookstore. John observed around the countless books and noted he was currently in the kids section. The colors of the books and drawings on the floor gave that characteristic away. He walked briskly forward noting the library was dark on the inside and the lights weren't working. John activated his night-vision accessory on his helmet.

He looked on both sides before finally seeing the inside. It was small, with only a few individual shelves containing volumes of books that ranged from, cooking, shinobi art scrolls to once about gardening. John looked on one shelf and found a book on summons. He didn't know what summons where but kept that in mind for later on. A few books had fallen on the carpeted floor, but from Johns vision they were only about clothing, to cooking. He stepped on one book that was quite thick. He turned it over and looked at it's title. Something about the warring nations and some man named Madara Uchiha who fought a man named Hashirama Senju using some fox demon. But from the look of it, it was probably some fairy tail... meaning it had no relevance to him now or never.

_Oh how wrong he was..._

Some of the books read about biographies concerning someone named Mifune, general of the land of Iron, to a book entirely about a group known as Jashinist worshipers...

They were leading him nowhere.

John continued to walk forward and began looking for anything relevant to something he needed to locate. His first objective was to find out where Nawaki belonged and how he could get him there.. He couldn't keep him on the ship forever and would more than likely wonder where his home was... Plus, his village of "Konoha" would probably want him back. But looking over at what had happened earlier the village might think he was already dead...

Better now than never.

John looked over the section of the books and heard a massive noise outside that made the building shake...

_It__... was outside the building..._

If John wasn't surprised before... He was astonished by the speed of this things pace. John looked through the window and saw... What looked like a puffy slimy pure white wall. He didn't know what on earth he was looking at but continued to stare at it as the great white wall of white slime moved forward. This caused the building to shake slightly as the shelves began to fall over. He dropped down to avoid direct contact with the thing outside. He looked to the outside on his HUD and saw the thing was going toward the end of the road on his scanner. John did not know what on earth he was looking at but decided to not walk outside the door, or hole. He however felt he landed on something before looking down and pulling out a book...

The Elemental Nations: Geographical Facts

John felt his questions finally answered... This book no matter how small it is or how dim it was gave him a slight hop to what needed to be answered.

John slowly stood up and looked outside to hear nothing out of the slightest... But when he looked on his scanner...

_PSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTSPLOSHHHHS...SPPPLLLOOOSSSHHHHH!...HIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS_

Chief looked to his right ro find out what that noise was and saw half the building was melting...

Thats right... It was Melting.

This caught him completely off guard as he saw the white wall outside the window...

The wood, bricks, glass, metal nails were melting under some purple liquid. Being completely dissolved in a matter of seconds. The liquefying continued to grow over the walls of the shop and spread until the roof of the shop was beginning to be eaten by the purple slime. John took a few steps back to avoid the fallout of the slime toward his left and knocked a bookshelf over in the process. He looked behind him to see the massive white gooey wall standing outside that went up past the ceiling. The light from the outside lit up the inside of the library and went over chiefs frame. The ceiling continued to dissolve away chipping every bit of plaster and began to show the upper portions of the slimy being awaiting outside... until it was fully revealed...

To be a nearly 100 foot tall white slimy slug... With two massive eyes stalks and a slimy interior mouth stared at him, sloshing back and fourth. A long trail of slime like saliva coating behind him from where he had come from, and six fat looking tails swished behind. John cursed in his mind for lingering too long... This thing... Or slug was bound to find him...

He was gigantic... Taller than M510 Siegework/Ultra-Heavy Mobile Anti-Aircraft Weapons Platform... This made John feel he would need some heavy firepower to go up against something this large...

But there was only one way to find out if this thing was friend or foe..

Chief looked up with his rifle trained on it and said only one thing

"What in the-

Then the giant white slug expectorated a giant blob of purple acid at John...

And that is when John learned of the Six tailed beast...Was not friendly...

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><p><strong>TO BE CONTINUED<strong>

**And that is where chapter 6 ends. John maybe lucky, but looks like his luck made him come face to face with one of the tailed beasts, one that spits acid no less. Anyway, consider this a gift for black Friday.. Since I got absolutely nothing at the stores and nearly got beaten up. Now while I'm 6'ft 3 inch, I can't take on a crowd of angry people trying to get their hands on a XBOX ONE... **

**Lets just say my pride was hurt more than my face... and arms...and legs.. ect.**

**Please stroke my happiness by leaving a review.**

**Flamers can go to any multinational retail store on black Friday...**

**- Happy black ****Friday**


	7. Never blink

**AUTHORS NOTE: Thus, there were 7. Bungies favorite number. Updates will be coming in slower now since one of my grandparents was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness. He has a year at most. I wish him the best of luck and will be there for him every step of the way. I got to say we never truly appreciate something until the very moment its taken away, Am I right? So for the time being, Updates will take a bit longer than usual. But do not fret, I wont take 3 or four month hiatuses... Just 4 to 5 weeks at most... **

**XxX**

**DISCLAIMER: ****HALO BELONGS TO 343 INDUSTRIES WHICH BELONGS TO MICROSOFT THAT IS OWNED BY BILL GATES. NARUTO BELONGS TO KISHIMOTO MASASHI...**

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><p>Chapter 7: Never Blink...<p>

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><p>"<em><strong>He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster . . . when you gaze long into the abyss . . . the abyss also gazes into you."<strong>_

**-Friedrich Nietzsche**

* * *

><p>Rhythmic beats slapped across the stone cold road, echoing in the village could be heard within Kirigakure for a few seconds in the distance... Until Master chief appeared out of the mist as he ran across the barren rocky road; took a hard left with his assault rifle, still smoking from the barrel. John stopped as he was in between two building made of brick and took cover and carefully looked outside in the street. His HUD didn't read anything for a few seconds...and saw nothing was following him after a few more.<p>

This was a new experience John was going through for the first time in his military career. Being hunted down by a colossal slug that spat acid like a fire hose. He had never played the runner, he would fight. He was never one to retreat because if he had the result would have lead to the covenant victory and humanities extinction. His flight or fight response could only register whenever he was only in an absolute life or death situation... But he knew when he was in danger of dying...

Because honestly the truth to him about death... Was that it was inexplicable to him on all accounts.

To HIM... No one else.

He had made it this long to see anything happen.

He began to assess where to go next for the time being for strategic measures against that thing that was following him. He didn't know how long he would be able to stay hidden from it since it had followed his every move for almost 12 blocks. He slowly stood up while looking behind him for a few seconds before he began trudging carefully forward in the alley, and also becoming increasingly vexed for allowing his two caseless submachine guns for becoming liquefied by the six tails. When it had attacked him at the library suddenly he had to take evasive maneuvers through the store to avoid being melted. He was able to abandon the sight and used what he had on him to hit the slug as many times as possible, that being the sub-machine guns. This however only proved to be a bad idea since the guns had zero effect on the beast as it caused it to only become increasingly agitated. The slug had sprayed at John the eating acidic liquid that hit his guns and his boot.

His boot was nearly eaten through but the shields were able to hold it off momentarily... His guns however were missing the front ends and only had the handles with the stock...

They were unprofitable now.

For a few feet he quietly listened to his surroundings as he trekked through the narrow alleyway, and taking in any quick movements until...

...

...

...

...

...

**!CRASH!**

... he began hearing squishy movements from behind next to the sound of crushing walls. He didn't have to look behind but no he was being chased down by the six tails. He began running forward again to avoid being caught by what is supposedly called the six tails that was aiming to kill him for some reason. It could have been possibly due to the fact that he could have been it's territory and he was trespassing... But all Master chief knew, was that the six tails was not going to be giving up

The six tails... A giant slug. Chief never would have known if it was said to him on any day. He would have thought the term beast or tails was an acronym for a weapon of some sorts, building, or some type of anything... Never an actual animal though. The monster, or living thing was possibly the biggest thing... Living thing John had ever seen. It was probably around as tall as the Pillar of Autumn from Johns memory, though it could have been shorter by a couple hundred feet. This made Chief rethink of this world for holding these type of animals. He didn't quite see the wildlife other than birds in the forests, and fish in the ocean. He didn't know if these tailed beasts were native to this world... Or if they were something else entirely.

Now in most cases. John would have opted for a vacate the premises ASAP since he had obtained what he had needed regarding on information of the world. Even though the knowledge he had found was a library book on geography of the planet, it was better than anything he originally had acquired in the long run by himself without Cortana.. But the plans had once again changed due to minor setback... That minor setback concerning a slug being over 600ft with acid glands and an unknown number of Shinobi forces within and outside the village making John weary of his sense of direction. If he wasn't vigilant of where he was advancing from, he could accidentally alert the entire nation of his presence and place his entire objective in jeopardy.

Yep.

Just another day in Kirigakure.

In a matter of seconds, the massive blob like being smashed it's way through buildings across the road like it was a toy, towering above them. It let its eyestalks scan over to Master chief and let out a loud distinctive moan that echoed throughout the streets. It saw the small green man ahead and surprisingly, slid across the road to catch up quickly. Master chief looked behind to see the speeding slug right behind him as he burst through both buildings, turning them into an avalanche of building in a matter of seconds. Master chief unclipped his assault rifle and aimed high while running backwards, and pooped several rounds into the squishy animal chasing him down. The bullets disappeared in the massive blob belly of his. John had to dive to the right side as the massive slug sped forward quicker than he could imagine. John rolled out of the alley in the nick of time and went into a kneeling defensive position and aimed his assault rifle at the slug and took two shots at it's round head.

The charging slug shrugged off the bullets and had to make him knocked into him making him fly onto the road. John screeched to a halt and saw his armor dimmer a little bit from the force of the strike. He sat up started spraying lead at the six tails until his weapon went dry. He quickly reloaded another clip into the slot and aimed at the slug who stood 40 feet across from him. The slug let out another distinctive yet incoherent moan and huffed its chest out... and spat out a barrage of bubbles at John making him jump back in surprise from the attack choice. Unfortunately, one of the bubbles hit John's rifle making him attempt to rub it off... But this proved futile as it grew over it in a second. Then bubble immediately popped out of existence, along with his rifle leaving John unarmed. He stood up as soon as it began stomping towards him and began running down the road as hard as he could as the Six tails quickly followed behind. John sprinted for a few seconds before making a hard turn and seeing he was headed towards the docks near the water. He kept his pace steady as he speedily unclipped a grenade from his belt and tossed it behind. He jumped forward near a ditch that lead toward the water and landed several feet below in the shallow part of the murky water... and he waited a for few seconds until..

**BOOOOOM!**

The inevitable explosion occurred and shook the ground and John could feel the small shock from the blast. Hopefully it caught the monster off guard in it's blast and tore it to pieces. A few rocks and pebbles flew over chief and hit the water creating rifts in the waves. He was up to his knees in the mud and checked his weapons while checking his HUD scanner on the lower corner. But, he saw no readings within the 25 meter radius. He was shocked that thing had dissolved his rifle within a bubble in a blink of an eye... John had nearly been caught in that bubble... If he had let it absorb him...

John grunted as he heaved one of his legs out of the thick mud and did so with the other. There was nothing else he could do now other than-

**SWWWOOOOOSSSSHHHHHSSSSPLLLASSSSSSHHHHHH!**

John didn't know what happened in those few seconds of being in knee deep in the water... Other than being overwhelmed by a massive tidal wave from the water that caused him to jump back in shock, or maybe the time it took to all play out. The murky saltwater sploshing All John could see outside his visor was sea water beating against it and thrashing back and forth making it impossible to make out with the naked eye. John tried to compose himself and his actions from the current and looked at his scanner and saw a massive blimp with him in it's radius. John jumped up out of the water high enough and saw the six tails was only a few feet away from him. John tried to grapple himself over the rocky wall and onto the pier...

However, the giant slug rushed forward like lightning and engulfed chief in its gooey jaws making him thrash around in retaliation. In a fit of trying to escape the clutches of the slimy prison when john had tried to climb up the stone wall behind him, but was enveloped in the slugs mouth and thrashed around like a rag doll.. John couldn't see or hear anything except the sound of sloshing back and forth and some light outside from his backview shadow. Everything else was pure white and dark from the inside. He attempted to grab onto anything and free himself, but couldn't grab onto anything except the feeling of what could be described as compressed air since it was slime and he was wearing his armor gloves. His heart rate picked up and though for a second he was being devoured by the flood but he reminded himself it was a giant slug...

It wasn't comforting though.

Almost like a slingshot, John was let go out of the Six tails grasp and flew almost a hundred feet and began trying to activate his Jet pack... But strangely he received no response.. The world around him was moving too quick for him to respond to anything until he felt his body crash through a brick wall. But due to his weight it made the sturdy wall make it as if he was going through cardboard. He hit the floor and skidded across it. However after a few feet his chest armor which stuck out tore into the soft wooden floor, cutting cleanly through.

John layed face down as a sense of vertigo took over from the spinning and he tried to calm his insides down. He cleared his mind and thought of what he was after... What he was after... He also took notice his armor was at 15% shielding power capacity from the loud warning beeping. After his toss, he probably didn't hear it from the sound of bricks being smashed and wood being scraped into. That last impact nearly got him... He needed to avoid physical contact with this thing or else it was all over.

When he composed his internal problems as his armors readings became stabilized from the shock, he slowly pushed himself off the floor and saw that he left an imprint in the floor. He shook his head lightly, and quickly snapped his head around to the side of the hole he flew through and looked around; to see where he was. From the looks of the inside he was in a place of cooking. Vegetables were in bowls on a counter and of all kinds, dishes piled in a sink with brown greenish leftover food stains, a plethora of kitchen appliances littered the entire countertop within the kitchen. It appeared to be a house with a simple living space with a counter, a couple tables, pictures on the wall ranging from different people, and what looked like a glass dome containing food inside it that lined up against the wall that was filled with pastries.

He assumed he landed in some type of shop within the district. He was lucky he now had some cover and time to redirect a counter strategy...

**"WUUUUUU AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH..."**

...But it looks like he would have to run since that came from a very close distance.

He saw his jet and tried to reactivate his boosters by pressing the button, but heard the engine on his back let out a "POP" before hearing a low rumbling. He turned his head toward his back and growled when he saw his Jetpack began to smoke from the engine. He saw the slime from the six tails had coated the thrusters, making it inoperable for use. He assessed the slime became entangled within the thruster lighting spark and had made it unable to light the fuel. If he had about an hour he could empty and clean it thoroughly... But from the look of his scanners motion detector he didn't have a minute to spare.

John quickly felt a rumbling from behind and had to bolt toward the back of it as he saw the six tails life force appear from behind. The monster burst through the buildings foundation, roared a low bubbly rumble and began to try and crush him inside the home too.

He quickly dashed through the back kitchen passing a sink and counter before spotting the only exit within the building... A wooden door. Seeing that it was wood and wood doors in common sense were thin enough, John sprinted toward it, then crashing through the door leading toward a yard filled with a simple garden. John kneeled down reached down checked his thigh holster as he was charging through the yard filled with grass and saw he had only a Magnum. He looked up to see the six tails over the house behind a tree and gurgle deep within its throat. He got up and jumped over a fence to put as much distance between himself and took a sharp turn. The slug slammed one of it's massive tails on top of the house then the ground nearly crushing John but causing an uproar of noises ranging from crushing metal, to glass becoming obliterated from the raging force.

Master chief rocketed down a street, not looking back once and keeping his face directly primed to the beginning of the road. Shops were passing by him like a blur as he nearly pass half a Kilometre in 32 seconds flat. His feet were almost like lightning as they barely touched the ground to send h springing forward. He swung to the left of another alley as a massive tendril courtesy of the six tails swung down, nearly squashing him. John then had to jump up as high as he could when he was nearly grabbed by the six tails again in its mouth.

John flew upward as he gripped the lower part roof of a small building with his left glove hand. He could hear the sound of rocks being obliterated on his left. Thinking quickly, he pushed himself off the buildings wall as hard as he could and jumped backwards in a full backflip onto the other building. He rolled onto his back and saw the six tails

About to ash into him when he spun to the left again and began a free fall off of the structure. John lande near the docks while the six tails began to shake. John took out his magnum and aimed it at the six tails who kept shaking like a lead in the wind.

Out of the flesh of the slug came a purple gas evaporating through nearly microscopic pores. The purple fog traveled in all directions in a thick dense gas. John shifted backward with his pistol raised and tried to think of another escape route. When the fog nearly touched him, his HUD scanned it.

_**WARNING: HAZARDOUS COMPOUND DETECTED.**_

John let the gas pass over him since his armor came with its own personal air tank and was airtight from missions into space, and being deployed into deep sea missions...

It didn't excuse the slug as it tried to charge John again. He stuck his magnum back onto his thigh as the Magnetic Weapon Holder Strips connected to the magnum and held it down hard by the powerful magnets. John had to continue sprinting as the six tails chased speedily behind trying to devour the master chief. Johns lungs kept his breathing at a slow pace even when he was sprinting that could make an Olympic runner gasping like a fish. His heart rate was also at a steady pace minus the fact his entire body was moving like the speed of a bullet. John moved forward through a foggy shopping district where fish was standing out on top of crates on the right side in shops while on the left side in chiefs vision was a wooden dock and toward the ocean. The six tails's monstrous worth on the aging wooden dock proved too much as it began to loudly creek under the weight and began to crack into the wood. The six tails took a step forward and the docks finally caved in. The six tails struggled to escape thrashing the water and fighting against the confides of the wood posts sticking into it and the other docks holding it back. It had fallen over 20 feet into the water which was another 40 foot drop to the bottom, and all together was a 60 foot drop to the six tails.

The six tails made an incoherent notice as it spewed out like a sprinkler and showered the entire dock in the yellow substance. In a matter of seconds the docks were reduced to nothing and John had to take a right turn to make it back into the village and hoped that the trap set had worked for now...

He looked at his TACTICAL/TACPAD on his left wrist and held it up for a second as he quickly pressed the coordinated spot for a supply drop from the strike fighter since he was without any weapons, except a combat knife and a magnum.

Master chief heard another humongous crash of brick and wood off to the very end of the road and saw the Six tails had freed itself from the docks and was beginning to hastily stomp its way over to John, while it's tails swung wildly and beginning to lay waste to the village. It opened it mouth very wide and showed its dark purple gums as it began to gob up a superfluity of bubbles ranging from different sizes. The bubbles raced above chief and began to surround him. John acted on compulsion and unclipped his magnum. The six tails was getting closer to him but he was surrounded on all sides by bubbles. Now John was getting really frustrated by the deadly things as bubbles... He raised his arm high and fired at one of the bubbles that could have devoured him...

One of the bubbles he shot at exploded and pushed him back slightly, but one got stuck to his arm and that one too blew up. The bubble that had popped sent out an electrical current that went through Johns systems and caused his shielding to go down slightly by 2%... Then another attached to him... Then another one...

And another...

And another...

And another...

And another...

And another...

And another...

And another...

And another...

And another...

And another...

Soon Master chief found himself completely enclosed by the mass array of bubbles that covered him head toe. John didn't let go of his magnum and tried as hard as he could to rub them off. But his hands were coated in the bubbles and he would only cause them to rub together and not be able to grab anything. He tried to bash his hands together until...

**BBBBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTT**

Electricity always gave off a distinct smell..

Truthfully, it was never the electricity itself since it had no distinctive scent, but sparks created by electricity would give off the smell of sulfur...

All John could do was clench his teeth as hard as he could until he could feel his jaw began to lock up from his muscles become rock hard.

His entire body had been electrocuted all at once within a few seconds, giving him a powerful shock of thousands of volts. His armor had completely went completely off the charts and his shields went down completely. John was standing completely still as his muscles were completely stiff as stone, and his heart was giving off a quivering beat. Smoke radiated off his arms, legs, chest, and everywhere else giving off a foul burnt smell. He growled a silent noise before falling backward onto the ground eliciting a very loud thump of metal and stone. John felt his teeth chatter from the remaining currents in his body and couldn't stop shaking.

_**HUD: WARNING: HEART LEVEL & RESPIRATORY SYSTEM/ STATUS/ CRITICAL**_

Johns muscles didn't ease up and he could feel his lungs begin to become sore from the lack of breathing. After a certain amount of charge that goes through your body, certain muscles within the body would constrict and no longer function. At 20mA your lungs would become paralyzed and wouldn't be able to circulate oxygen to your blood. But that wasn't the most serious part,at around 500mA DC would cause ventricular fibrillation... It would begin to affect the heart rate drastically.

Both would cause death to anyone normal and unlucky enough to be caught in such an unlucky condition...

But John wasn't _unlucky. _

However... Right now John was at the complete mercy of the Six tailed Slug who began approaching him.

...

...

...

...

John took in an excessive amount of air as his lungs began to function properly. He took a small breath once again and he felt sweat pool around his forehead and roll down the side.. His eyes were met with the pure white sky of clouds and mist and he could feel the ground shake. This had been the second time he had incapacitated by lightning... Or electricity. Only this time it was his muscles that had become stiff as a board, not his armor. His heart rate was still at an odd pace considering he was shocked with an unknown level of volts at an unknown charge of amps, but he was lucky enough to be alive. The protein in his muscles was at a very high density since the Muscular Enhancement Injections not only made his muscles more resilient to severe cases of electrical shocks if the became too great.

John then saw the six tail's shadow cast over him like a darkening blanket of death. John moved his neck despite the lack of muscle control at the moment. In times like these, John was like a turtle. While he was a human who could die from anything ranging from bullets to plasma, he was protected by his outer shell if threatened. The turtle of all shapes and sizes had survived through millions of years of evolution through the use of the shell. The defense, the home, their only sole defense. John had prevailed with his defense on countless operations for his service. But to every light side came a disadvantage. While the turtle had full protection to most predators and the overall environment, it would sometimes fall on top of its back... And remain like that until it eventually flipped right side up...

...Or it would die.

Since Master chief had gone through a series of unpromising events, he had been constricted on more times than he could count. His luck with being prisoner was stronger as it ever was since this was now the 5 time he had been playing prisoner... But this was the second time lightning was involved.

Johns heart rebutted back into its rhythmic beating as he felt his chest become less heavy and the ease lighten significantly. His armor broke into the stone ground and grounded when he tried to trudge his weight away. He couldn't hear what was going on around him, and his mouth had become increasingly dry. His thoughts went back to bracing his arms as much as he could muster and began to force his shoulders up but couldn't budge them an inch. The sense in his arms and legs were there... But they were so stiff from the electrical shock from his system redirection... That it had literally numbed him to ever solid nerve. His pectorals were hard as stone before... But now they were as hard as diamonds.

Lightning was now his biggest enemy next to the fate of causes.. Out of anything that could stop him physically, it had to be some type of element, and that was electricity. His entire armor was like a lightning rod , begging to be shorted out, and cause him severe damage to the wearer. He didn't have the slightest theory that MJOLNIR assault armor was weak to anything other than excessive damage ,to sizable pressure. It would overload and have to reboot the system.

The six tails cheeks began to puff up as acid filled in its mouth. John meanwhile thrashed his arms about as hard as he could to try an reassess the nerve. His arms began to move lightly for a few centimeters from the blood beginning to flow through, but not enough for any voluntary movement. Johns attempted to shift his legs but they felt as if they were under the weight of a UNSC Elephant...

Johns fingers twitched slightly as he felt the motion feeling take effect. He looked up at the six whose cheeks had become so gigantic from the amount of acid it began to drip out the corners of its mouth. A few drips land next to chiefs head by a mere few inches as it hissed when it hit the ground. The acid seemed to be highly potent and could dissolve through almost anything if it made contact. John growled as he forced it harder.. And harder...

And harder...

If he could hit a key to an incised message on his TACPAD, he would be able to send out a message to the strike fighter, and send out a target marker on the six tails. But, the TACPAD had to set a loading beacon a decipher the message after each use... Which took a very long time.

His arms began to move centimeter by centimeter over the cobblestone and a warm buzzing was heard from his back. He felt something snap into place on his back and before he knew it...

...he was flying.

He skidded across the ground opposite of the six tails when all he could hear was the roar of an engine... Wait.

His jet pack...

His back was pulling into him, like an invisible life saving harness.

His jetpack had activated...

How?

John zoomed while grinding on the ground eliciting sparks, and kicking up dust and saw the beast became smaller and smaller in chiefs vision. He had escaped right at the very last millisecond as the waterfall of acid poured onto the ground nearly creating a lake. It went on and on over the street and a steamy substance began to roughly form over the road as it ate through and broke down the stone.

John's jet pack was acting uncoordinated, and as a result he smashed into a small shop through the wooden under seal. The wood held little to no protection when he ripped right through it, but it did provide a soft landing though as chief crashed into piled furniture piled against the wall. His armor lost 5% of its shields but nothing too serious. Glass shattered, wood crumbled, and all the chairs and tables in the way were plowed on through Johns weight. John rolled onto his stomach as he stood up roughly. He saw a few blimps behind him as he spun around with his pistol raised... Only to be met with the sight of a woman.

The woman gasped loudly as she shivered. She was young, around the age of 20 or so with black hair and pale skin wearing a red gown. She was pressed against the woodlen wall with a small bundle in her arms, a baby. John's eyes didn't soften but he felt his arm begin to tire out from the previous fatigues, and his hand dropped when he saw the woman was no threat. The woman was shaking as a gurgling roar rang echoed through store. John took his eyes off the woman and heard her scurry away as John focused all his attention on the beast...

As he left, the woman watched the green armored man leave the store over the broken glass... and she saw an orange light ripple appear over his jet pack..and it seem to repair it.. Her face contorted to amazement as she saw the orange glowing ripple glide over the mans back... and then disappeared. It looked almost like magic... But it looked nothing like chakra.

A baby's wails brought her out of her thoughts as she began to rock the baby back and forth. "Its alright Ao-kun, mommies here..." She looked out to the spartan to where he once stood and hoped her husband Goro was alright ,and would not come face to face with this demon...

He walked speedily outside the shop trying to gain the feeling in his legs, which were being restored at a great pace, and he kept trying to think on how his jet pack was repaired... But he had to pay attention the the six tails rushing towards him. John shook his arms and tried shaking his legs, they felt sorely stiff but he would have no choice but to try and take the six tails head on, and get far enough away to call the strike fighter...

He had to move aside hastily as another one of the elongated tails smashed the road. John halted his Tacpad for a moment and try to distract the monster for a minute. He rushed forward toward the tailed beast as he removed his Jet Pack, primed a grenade on it and tossed it at the slug. The tailed beast surprisingly held it tails in front of it like a defensive shield in "X formation and caught the flying primed Jet-pack meant to go off...

**BOOOOOOOOOOOM!**

John cursed under his breath as he saw his only offense measure be thrown off by the six tails like it was nothing. This animal.. or alien was proving to be smarter than it looked, like it was adapting to his strive for every second he fought it... It had learned what John had formulated as a simple straightforward attack plan and blocked it like it was nothing... Not even a scratch.

_It was learning._

John licked his chapped lips as he was now standing several feet away with his back facing the open road and across from the six tails. The six tails was standing on a partly destroyed building complex, with it's slimy meaty tails swishing back and forth. Its posture read playfulness, but to Master chief it only read aggressiveness. This very moment John was perplexed at the Six tails staring at him... Waiting for a single motion and strike in for the kill. John twitched his fingers after feeling the phantom pistol still there. In these type of situations John would try to use a different advancement which involved using the area as a weapon...

But this did not apply to 7 hundred foot tall slugs.

The six tails rolled its flabby head back and stared at the sky as a low continuous rumble emitted from his vocal cords. Through John's HUD, it's surrounding outline of its body was beginning to compose of something he had not seen before. A fluctuation of dark energy spiked around it and began to spur the gravity causing rocks to float up. It even the caused the ground from underneath it to sink in from an unknown force, making John feel weary of what was going to come.

John didn't know what it was doing but took one last attack. He sprinted forward as he unclipped his magnum and began firing at the slug at its head until it ran dry. All of the bullets were either sucked into the pulpy flesh, or slid down it massive chin. Almost in a matter of seconds, faster than John could process, a dark red, black and orange sphere formed above the beasts mouth and shot at John like a bullet. The sphere was bigger than John, and was going at the speed equivalent to a MAC gun shell.

Master chief attempted to sidestep the oncoming attack the best that he could by turning his body left... But his eyes widened as it's brightness blinded him and struck him on the side of his body.

**BOOOOOOOM!**

The sphere detonated upon impact and made John feel his insides rattle from the unstoppable shock. It was almost an instantaneous boom that compressed all his insides and nearly made him gag from the collision. The sphere felt like an absolute bomb went off on his chest and its intensity was like being stuck to a covenant sticky grenade, but the speed of it was almost as equivalent to firing a Spartan Laser. The force of the ball made him fly across the road for a full 5 seconds of non stop rolling, making him try to grab anything to halt his movement. He tried to halt his motions and gain better control, but he ran out of time as he crashed into a stone wall...

HARD...

The energy of the impact caused the rock to crack and spread a spider's like web under the sudden weight of Master chief's armor smashing into it. John slid down against the wall with a downward look toward his legs as he felt sick from the collision almost suddenly. The entire time laps from standing and being hit took less than a minute, it was shocking. His armor's energy shielding went down completely from the explosion and its sound of emitting it's _"DANGER ARMOR DOWN"_ warning quite loudly in chiefs helmet.

The heat from the explosion was so intense he could feel it touch and burn his skin underneath his chest piece. Biofoam projectors began spraying over his torso from up to his collarbone and down toward his waist. The pain was minimal in John pain tolerance meter. When he attempted to move forward and his chest rubbed against the armor, John gasped in discomfort as he felt a burn smear across his system. . He looked down to see his normal UNSC green on the entire right side of his chest had turned ash black and smoking a little from the high temperatures . He felt as if he had become poisoned from the potency of the energy. Biting into his lips to ignore the pain, John struggled to get up.

The MJOLNIR armor could only take so much damage at once before it had to reload itself after constant damage... But the fact of the reality is...

That sphere could killed him...

After a few second of the explosions sound ringing going through his ears and spots in his vision from the brightness, he slowly looked up quickly to see the Slug rushing at him from down the road like a hungry serpent who sought to taste blood. The speed of this thing was stunning since it actually had a pair of legs... Very minuscule legs in Johns viewpoint and shouldn't have been able to lift that enormous being without fault... The sound of the six tails's slime slipping over the cobblestone road along with the sound of its feet smashing into the ground was comparable to the sound of a rocks being smashed and the ground with everything around it shaking.

John pushed and pushed to get himself up. He pushed more forcibly this time and grunted as he pushed himself up and watched as the monster kept rushing at him like a mad hippo.. He calculated at it's speed which was around 18 mph, and he was 40 feet across... This meant he needed to time a jump precisely or be rammed. The slugs speed was fast by the normal eye, but in John's vision it was as slow as an actual moving snail. That can be thanked to the augmentations which granted him superior genes. One of them was Occipital Capillary Reversal, which gave him a faster perception of vision with fast moving procedure made the rods underneath his retinas to pump more blood, giving him a higher level of awareness. It was created in order for Spartans to attempt such feats as dodging bullets and on some occasions scorpion missiles.

John had proven this true by actually deflecting a scorpion ballistic missile with just his left forearm during a training routine. Chief was also VERY lucky to have survived this procedure and was a marked success...

Otherwise it would have costed him his eyesight.

That sphere however proved to be way too fast for John's capability and went faster than he could possibly imagine. Its velocity was fierce, his speedometer couldn't pinpoint it quick enough. But from now on if he ever ran into a tailed beast he would have to approach it with high caution...

When the Slug was only 2 feet away John side flipped expertly away from the six tails as it's momentum caused it to crash into the statue behind him, catching it off guard. The six tails roared loudly through the slime coating it's mouth as the massive pieces of the rock from the gave way. Collapsing on him. One piece of the statue squished the six tails around the slimy torso and caused the ground underneath it to crack slightly. The six tails squirmed and shook the ground roughly, beating its slab like tails on the ground and emitting booms for miles.

This gave John enough time to go back onto his TACPAD and press the selection key from four different types of weapons. He looked over the listing and denied taking anything with firing bullets since they had no effect on the slimy beast as they would simply disappear inside the slimy toros of it's . He looked at the very end of the listing and he instantly selected an ASYMMETRICAL RECOILLESS CARBINE-920, better known as a Rail gun. Its ammunition consisted of 16x65 high explosive projectile that traveled at supersonic speed that could leave an everlasting imprint on any enemy...

John quickly pressed the green word that said, _**"WEAPONS DROP/ SELECTION/ ASYMMETRICAL RECOILLESS CARBINE-920/ CONFIRMED/"**_ and waited for it's descent to earth... But first he had to wait a few seconds for it to exit out of the strike fighter, and to pinpoint where it was going to land without being too far way. Where chief was facing, it would land an amount of feet away without being caught in any moving objects path. But it needed time to calculate a preferable area.

John had to dodge a slide attack from the giant six tails as had escaped from the rocky prison that had trapped him but escaped. John dodged another strike from it and shot forward attempting to run him down. He managed to roll out of the way and took a desperate alternative since he had no other weapons. He summed up his thought before charging at the slug monster at full speed. He pulled his arm back as he slammed his fist into the gooey stomach of the slug, emitting a moan of displeasure from it.. He then dug his fingers around the fleshy substance, grabbed a chunk of it and tore it out, attempting to cause the slug as much damage as possible. This proved ineffective as the six tails swung its tail at him, but he was able to duck underneath the strike and jumped back.

John then heard a scream of something falling from the sky...

In a matter of seconds awaited, the metal UNSC weapons deployment pod dropped out from the sky and stabbed the ground next to a building approximately 27 yards away. It stabbed in the cobblestone ground, becoming firmly placed. Inside was the railgun, two multi purpose hand grenades, and 9 rounds of ammunition for the weapon. The drop pod was shaped in a capsule form and was around 5 feet tall, with a 28 inch radius giving it enough room to hold the firearm. The outside exterior was colored in standard green UNSC colors with a single white line. Its lid popped open then off the hinges and sent the it off onto the stone ground skidding for a few feet until it stopped. The original version of drop pods were drop crates which were meant to carry more than one weapon, but due to the size of the strike fighter and excessive weight from the box, there were only two pods containing only one weapon.

John stared at the weapon that was his only chance of survival... and so did the six tails. He automatically raced toward it in a blink of an eye making the six tails try to spit acid at him. Johns speed did not hesitate as he ducked under the first glob that almost hit him by inches, then rolled forward quickly using his hands as the first thing he would grab onto.

His fingers slipped right into the the handle of the rail gun, and he yanked it off the hilt connecting it to the pod without a care. He aimed at the slug as his hand nestled the end of the barrel. The six tails began running at him in a slow pace, but began to trip through a few stalls that had gotten in the way and which made it nearly fall over from the weight. John breathed slowly as he sat straight up and aimed the weapon at the six tails. The Six tails stood up this time and roared through slime making its less than subtle noise bounce out the market district in kiri. Its eyes locked onto Master chief and it began to slowly breathe. It leaned it's head back as it started to perform the explosive sphere again as he sunk into the ground, and dark energy collected around it above creating a dark purple ball.

John pulled down the trigger making the orange screen light up red as it started charging the weapon. The orange screen reticle turned green and soon a low hum emitted from the barrel, then the cylinder in the chamber began rotating at medium pace before it went to a very fast rate. The interior opening of the barrel began to glow light blue then the kinetic force began to accelerate until-

**SHOOM!**

A very large smoldering burn appeared on the face of the six tails's face making it fall back, landing against a small flower shop crushing it. A dust cloud appeared and moved over the six tails, a moan was heard in what seemed like pain as it wobbled around the destroyed structure. John didn't hesitate to fire again as he let unloaded the empty shell, then reloaded another slug into the chamber, and let the gun charge up. Another shot rang out as John let another explosive round hit the dust cloud hitting the its target.

**SHOOOM!**

This gained another painful cry from the six tails, but it's life force didn't falter once.. John did the same routine as he began slowly walking forward, placed another shell in the barrel and charged the gun again...

**SHOOOM!**

And Again...

**SHOOOM!**

And Again...

**SHOOOM!**

And Again...

**SHOOOM!**

The Six tails now began to behave wild and mad from where the unknown pains began to appear at a fast pace. It thrashed about like a caged animal, and began to lash at anything. This caused the smoke mixed in with dust to disperse and move about erratically with each motion of the six tails. Meanwhile its flesh giving off a foul odor of burnt slime. John noticed his scanner began beeping as he looked behind and saw more blimps appear in the background. Chief grew increasingly cautious from the fact he now had three problems. When the Six tails wasn't dead. Two, it seemed this stealth mission was compromised since he was using such a booming weapon. But he had nothing else to use. He would have considered a Spartan laser for the kill but had neglected to bring one..This was now a reminder to take one at any nation...

Three, they were now after him...

The Six tails, who in John's mind was not normal in any way shape or form. Considering it had shot him with an energy ball made of something unknown since it had caused his armor's radiation reading to go off the charts. It had survived 6 shots from the ASYMMETRICAL RECOILLESS CARBINE-920, which in all scientific rights should have obliterated a hole right through its body now. Even with acheron armor which was proven to be the second strongest in the galaxy, would have been penetrated or at least dented.

It was proven after 5 shots with this weapon, it could destroy a wraith, a mantis, or a scorpion...

But one living being ...

...IT DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING...

This was becoming scary in John's mind... Since everything he had encounter in his life could have been stopped through any means of teamwork, weapons, and luck. Now John had come across something that couldn't be stopped with any of those things... Teamwork was out of the question since he was completely alone in this operation. Weapons, now John had plenty of them. But something to shrug off a railgun was unheard of... Shields from the covenant yes, but a living thing was unheard of.

Was this the true power of a tailed beast...

Not dying from physical attacks?

Maybe John and this monster did have something in common, minus the fact John COULD be killed from physical attack... But not old age...

"Alright team, we need to regroup with the west division to capture the Six tails." A gruff voice said in the distance.

These deductions ceased however when John looked behind him and saw 14 shinobi enter from the road not knowing what they were in for... But once they saw Master chief standing there with a whole block destroyed their grim looks changed with flabbergasted looks upon their faces. In Front of them was a very tall man in armor with half the city block destroyed... And one very pissed off Six tails. Some of these Shinobi were told they weren't going to survive this operation and had to make go in for a suicide mission to subdue the Slug, and attempt to re-seal it into a new host after the first one died. In thought that this would be there very last day on earth, they took onto the mission thinking of a noble sacrifice... Lets just say, some of these Shinobi were dead man walking, and their destination was a coffin 6 feet under...

But instead of meeting their demise at the clutches of one of the legendary six tailed beasts, they find a very tall armored man with no face, half of the shopping district destroyed in what looks like a battle of the wonders, and the six tails whimpering like a beaten dog...

But that didn't mean they were out of the green zone.

One of the Shinobi who looked familiar yelled out in confusion. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" He gained no answer as the other men began yelling.

"Did...that man stop it?"

"Is it even a man to begin with?"

"The six tails... Beaten."

"No such thing."

"Kirigakure have mercy on us."

"Never in my time."

"He's some type of phony."

"I don't know... But that is one nice piece of armor... Maybe he would let me have it."

"Oh no, I got first dibs."

"In your dreams Fei."

"Knock it off you two and keep your mouths _shut_!" An older gruff voice ordered as he smacked both young geninn, and silencing the two in the process. John saw a tall lean middle aging man with black grayish hair that went toward his back in an uncaring way with odd beads in it around in a circular pattern, possibly white pearls. He had long eyelashes over his black pupil less eyes that seemed very calm. His skin had a bit of mocha tone with very fine wrinkles around his mouth and a VERY long sword on his back. He was wearing a standard uniform like everyone else only this time he had a pure white scarf around his neck, and a blue and white sash around his waist.

"What are you stranger, and what is your business in Kiri?" Asked the man whose voice was laced with ice. John didn't know how to respond to this. Every time he had been physically seen, someone was trying to attack him or take him in. He had a great amount of distrust with every person he had hoped of meeting. It was dangerous considering he was completely alone within this everlasting operation of survival with an entire planet of shinobi... and only one of him.

He resumed his thoughts... Until he came up with a simple answer.

"Spartan-117." He answered stoically in Japanese the best he could. He quickly dismissed the idea of attacking straightaway since none of the men had taken any hostile action towards him... Yet. Listening and speaking in Japanese had become easy to grasp onto, but he had to be careful what he said.

After hearing the answer given by the Spartan, all the shinobi give puzzled looks after a few seconds of processing. Some of them looked without a change in expression and not to care in the slightest after receiving the new, while others were confused world was 100% different from chiefs in almost every caliber. The term spartan was never conceived by the Greeks, because there were no Greeks to begin with... Only Shinobi. But from what he had seen there were no dates concerning what era he was in, not even a year. However from the observation of the lack of normal technology ranging from cars, to light fixtures, to phones... To a simple radio made John feel like he had landed in a world during the 1800's when technology was in it's beginning stages of development.

"Spartan? What's that supposed to be?" Another nameless Shinobi yelled out around the left as several of them began to take their weapons out which ranged from massive ninja stars, katana's, chain swords, staffs, and nun-chucks Mostly things that were pretty useless against John himself.

John visualized several of the weapons, many of them had weak links within the certain points. John also saw a few of them holding one hand sign in perfect formation while a weird blue energy spiked around them. Master chief became tense from the strong pick up in the wind and brace himself for anything. It was like a warning beacon going off in John's mind when something didn't feel right... And right now his entire system was screaming danger. Maybe waiting for an onslaught was a bad idea.

But he was unarmed, all he had on him was a combat knife.

This energy source... Chakra if he remembered correctly, was something else entirely. It was spiritual energy that manifested every living cell in every living thing. Where it had come from or who it was created by was unknown...All John could scrabble from the Infinities archives was that it was based in hindu religion of traditions and beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism. It had also been associated with "wheel" or "turning" with different types of chakra points with parts of the human body. That and many divergent glyphs surrounding the issues...

But John didn't pay attention to these as they seemed inapplicable all together. Until he gained "insight" from the real thing. Meaning he would need to get first hand experience with the shinobi in combat, and scour this world for any possible information to his one true goal...

A way Home.

"Do you know who I am?" The man then asked calmly while eliciting a few mutters from the Shinobi crowd. John looked at the man before him and saw his stature and overall state of mind was calm...

That was a bad sign in this case.

"Should I?" John questions while feeling the air become a bit tense. He could hear the wind pick up osomewhat as he heard a few explosions rang out in the distance. Probably from the enemy known as Ame... Whoever they were.

John was getting some mental images of being back on Reach and hearing explosions from covenant cruisers constantly bombarding its surface with explosives...

_It almost felt like home. _

Some of the shinobi gave looks of offense as a few of them began muttering, but John didn't care to listen to them. The mizukage however knew who he was...

At the day they lost an entire squadron of chunnin ranked experts in tactical divisions named "Team clam", a few key eyewitness reports went over Suna from their divisions of a green being in the middle of the battle. The Suna shinobi though it was a statue at first for some sort of trick... But some were still claiming they had seen it move away when they slaughtered Team clam.

The mizukage looked over the reports of the deceased from the battle and saw the each shared in common, which was a small metal object that had cut through them like butter. The metal object had a round end and was 9.5X 40mm and mad of an unknown metal. Form the forensic reports, the metal object had traveled at a high velocity from the burn marks at the end and cut through vital organs and tissue in the shinobi. Many of the doctors had seen cuts, slices, poison, needles, decapitations, disemboweled, burns, drownings, asphyxiation, and all sorts of causes to injuries...

All of the medical team had never seen any of these before... They were completely new to each and every one of them.

Although it would be classified under **_"BLOOD LOSS"_** for the cause of death, the cause of the blood loss was still open...

The Mizukage had at first thrown off the idea of a summons or some sort of unknown phenomenon, but after the tales continued the Mizukage had to gain some sort leverage within the debate. The investigation had costed him nearly 70 of his best shinobi... They were not expendable...

No one was... Especially them during this time.

They had lead kirigakure to a warm victory on many occasions with surprise attacks on Konoha forces and supply runs. Successful they were on most missions, but their death had shocked Kirigakure since they had not lost any members when they were established 12 years prior to the war. The mizukage had ordered a full retraction from the investigation with Suna when further rumors spurred on the "Orange eyed demon." Many eyewitnesses from Suna were captured and interrogated only to give out the same answers depending on the situation involving the being.

There was also word spreading in Kumo about the prodigy of one of its fewer renowned clans being killed in action as well as within a few days after the incident in Kiri. Although reports of Orochimaru being sighted happened there that same night as well, so the blame was pinned mostly on him. But eyewitness say from the first platoon in Kumo, extracted by spies in Kiri that a **"SOKO AKUMA SUMMONS"** had been there...

At first the Mizukage brushed off that notion... But his two adviser brought in evidence supporting the fact that made his insides churn and his thoughts shift tremendously.

The relation between both names was uncanny.

Then the cause of death to the Kumo shinobi were the Same small bits of 9mX45mm singed metal rapidly lodged were found in kumo's men... The differences were similar only some of these shinobi who were killed, had been in more efficient and brutal ways...

The mizukage then wanted to ignore any signs of the man if he was able to do this anyone and hope he didn't see him or hear about him...

And sure enough the inevitable day had come...

The mizukage had first heard of a tall man in head to toe in armor he had become skeptical to believe it. But after more an more topics around it he had interested to say in the least. And was he really... This man was built like an absolute fortress, the armor didn't show a single scrap of flesh anywhere. From his point of view the armor looked heavy... Too heavy in fact. Some of the piece could properly fit on two men, while this man looked like he wasn't breaking a sweat. That stick he was holding... Well it certainly had a devastating end piece to cause a near simultaneous explosion. It was so fast the mizukage couldn't calculate its exact speed. This man had singlehandedly taken on and survived the devastating power of the Six tailed slug and survived. The Kiri kunoichi who had become its first victim was on guard duty at the main port. She had become overwhelmed by its power yet she was one of Kirigakure's most acclaimed poison maker that could kill 250 people with a single drop of her homemade toxins...

She would be remembered...

But for some strange reason he couldn't sense any chakra on this armored man...

Not a single flowing current of it going through his system. So unless he was a walking corpse that was composed of no chakra whatsoever, or not Human at all, he had to be very cautious of the unknown being and what he was getting into. But he couldn't make assumptions until he saw what abilities he was capable of. He had also sent out shinobi to locate any clue revolving around the matter. He had sent out the top trackers to search far and wide of the border, and they had found some odd metal plates around the beaches nearly buried in the sand.

But it really all lead to a dead end...

...Until now.

"I am Spiningu Heizu, the 3rd Mizukage of Kirigakure, and you are not welcome _here_ ." The man announced with a furrowed expression making John clearly know who this man was after his earlier _conversation _with Goro.

_Their leader._

"Now stand down..." Spiningu ordered while he closed his eyes and many of the Shinobi drew their weapons toward chief who tensed his muscles. He had no escape route with absolutely no weapon, and not the slightest idea on how to he was going to get out of this. He might have been able to run, but from what he had glimpsed in the past, Shinobi were excellent trackers as they were chasers. They could teleport faster than chiefs eyes could follow, as so does his scanner, and could run across the trees with a high level of adept skill.

The were faster... And there were more than him..

He now only had two options in these type of state of circumstances.

Option 1: Give up and be taken prisoner. Since it had been not the first time and certainly wouldn't be the last... But considering his armor made him physically stronger by 100 X's it was the smartest move. Play captured and then escape at their most defenseless.

But he couldn't waste time playing prisoner now... He needed to leave due to the Infinity and Nawaki's health. Pondering how his health was and the time he had spent in the coma... Today could be the day.

Option 2: Attack without mercy... It wasn't the smartest option but it was the only one he could possibly form now with nothing else.

"Did you hear me?" The mizukage said rather loudly.

John turned his head in the Mizukages direction.

"I won't." John said calmly.

The mizukage narrowed his eyes as his hands looked loose. "You disobey the Mizukage?" Shinobi around kept a very serious hateful stare toward the Spartan, hopefully trying to gain fear from him.

"I don't take orders from you." John rebutted.

"I am the ruler of the land of Kirigakure, anyone who disobeys my authority will be thrown into prison or executed on my word." The Mizukage stated making John clench his jaw behind his helmet. This land reminded him of communist nations where a ruler who was given enough power over its people, would treat everyone as if they were chess pieces. Use them for their own gain until they were no longer required.

The mizukage however forgot all his current attention from the Spartan when he heard the Six tails thrash around. His eyes became narrow for a moment before he looked at the Spartan.

"Did you subdue the six tails?" The mizukage asked again with less patience.

John had nearly forgotten of the six tails. Turning his head around a few inches, he could hear and see the slug starting to get up slowly. It shook it's head side to side trying to clear its vision. John quickly leveled the rail gun to fire the Six tails as it raised its head...

**SHOOOOM!**

The Six tails screamed as it was hit right in the back of the head right through its tails as it fell forward smashing into another building face first. The 3 story building leaned forward from the lack of support and shattered on top of the massive form . John looked through his reticle and saw he only had one more shell left. He felt a shift of movement behind him and turned like greased lightning to aim at a Shinobi who tried to lunge at him. The Shinobi grew tense as he narrowed his eyes and reached for a massive Ninja star on his back. His motion for it was ceased.

'Don't." The mizukage said. The shinobi quickly said "Hai." and sprung back behind the enemy line of Kiri. John kept his rail gun leveled and felt increasingly apprehensive since he was down to his very last shell... He had to use it very wisely now.

"What are you then... Spartan?" The mizukage asked asked. "Are you aligned with Amegakure?"

"No." John said while scanning his eyes over the district around him for any more stragglers and keeping his rail gun leveled at the Mizukage.

"Then you have no relation to Hanzo."

"Who?"

"Hanzo the Salamander. Ame's leader." After this was said, John was deciding if Hanzo had any relevance to his search...

"No."

"And you have no business with the Six tails attacking?"

"Hanzo controls it?" John questioned, become increasingly interested with Hanzo.

"No." The mizukage said narrowing his eyes dangerously at John. "Amegakure unsealed it within our border and launched a series of surprise attacks..."

**"WUUUU AAAAAAAA..."**

John also had to pay attention to the fact there was a thrashing tailed beast only a couple hundred yards behind him. John simply ignored the beast and decided to talk to the shinobi, and see if he could gain some answers. "Why are there attacks everywhere I go?" It was one question that had been eating at him for weeks now. The constant skirmishes were beginning to make him suspect there was something bigger going on. War or a simple global revolution could have also been a prime factor to what the situation was. John had seen it all. Revolutions, massacres, defense formations, crimes against the government, anarchy, genocide... It could have been all these put together. But Master chief would get a cold feeling down the middle of his spine, heat in his feet, and the different bodily warning from thousands of engagements that all seemed like a blur to him.

"What? Where have your thoughts been? There's been a war going on for almost 4 years that has been tearing through the nations for the second time now." The mizukage answered making John finally gain a better understanding to what he was dealing with. He knew it was war. The way they fought, the devastation's and amount of troops he had run into... It was a similar taste chief gained when he was in a war. This was no different in his own universe... Whenever he thought of war, John would get an iron tase over his tongue... The taste of blood.

"And what are you anyway demon? A samurai?" The Mizukage asked grimly making John gain a questioning thought.

Samurai?

They were here as well?

Over a couple day period while treating Nawaki, John had brushed up his knowledge on the History of China's most legendary assassins... The Ninja. Considering the fact he was in a world filled with them now, he might as well know what they were and how they got around in during life. This spurred on considering Nawaki's ID read "SHINOBI OF KONOHA."

It was pretty self explanatory.

But from a recollection of studying, Master chief deduced that the Kiri Shinobi viewed him as a samurai. Probably from all of the armor he was wearing. It was normal for the samurai to wear iron armor for protection, but the Ninja wore little to no armor at all for speed and less noise when doing sneak missions.

It seemed logical since history state the Shinobi and Samurais were rivaled troops with the lands of Asia and part of several clans. They specialize in assassination, espionage, sabotage, and smaller mission in gaining information, also from what John also learned the shinobi were expert spies. The rivalry between the two different custom warriors went on for centuries upon centuries ending with more and more of a longer barrier between the two..

Many great men in history had been created and forged within these decades of Japans history. Like Sun Tzu for instance, who was one of Japan's leading generals and had made it in the books as one of their greatest strategists in history.

... But like everything throughout history, it all came to an end around the mid of the 19th century during the beginning of the industrialization age.

John saw many blimps in the corner of his eye and he looked at his scanner to see the shinobi appear right behind him. He froze his actions to see what the were going to do. A surprise attack seemed the most reasonable... But was surprised himself when the were not going after him... But where averting their attention to the six tails as they ignored master chief. He looked behind to see the shinobi move farther and farther away from him.

John saw 27 shinobi quickly surrounded the Six tails in one giant circle. Each of muttered something toward one another and sounded quite distraught, but John was paying more attention to what they were about to do. All of them then quickly took out a steel metal cable from their back pouches and unrolled them. They expertly tossed them over the beasts torso toward the other side where another shinobi caught onto the end. A multitude of cables wrapped over the six tails like hundreds of constricting snakes within a few seconds. The shinobi began speaking rapidly, incoherently in John's mind... Suddenly the muttering turned into chanting and they began to use that same blue energy around the beast, causing it to gurgle in discomfort..The blue energy was more than likely chakra...

Its forceful cover then enveloped the Six tails making it moan again in vain. John squinted his blue eyes behind the orange visor on his helmet as he tried to see what they were up to.

It looked like some sort of ritual... But then again it could have been trying to kill it.

Slowly but steadily, he could see odd markings appear out of thin air and begin to float into the sky over the massive slug.

Maybe they were going to finish it off.

John resumed his attention back at the man and said nothing. He had already obtained what he needed and had nothing else to say. But right now he needed to figure out how to get out of here and fast. Since the multi strike fight could not land without properly being propelled, John had to find high enough area from where he could gain access to the cockpit. He slowly looked around and scanned the area for any high enough elevations but couldn't find any through the thick mist. "SPEAK UP DEMON! MY PATIENCE IS WEARING THIN" By now, the mizukage was losing his cool as he yelled and a few Kiri shinobi began to approach John with an aggressive posture.

More and more red blimps began to appear around his HUD, making him aim need to quickly point the rail gun at someone within the crowd... But there were too many.. He then quietly, but quickly pressed the TACPAD for any solution, possibly a strike fighter call... But decided the only way he was going to be able to fight through was with both a weapon and the jet. The railgun only had 1 shell left and he was going to need more for being caught in the middle of a nation without enough firepower. He let the rifle go on the end of the barrel and let his finger tap for an assault rifle drop directly behind the Shinobi. John also had neglected to grab for the two multi purpose grenades in the first pod, he would need to collect those if he was going to make his escape.

This would give him the element of surprise.

"I'M GOING TO COUNT TO THREE! IF YOU IGNORE MY WARNING, WE WILL SLAUGHTER YOU!" The Mizukage shouted as he began performing rapid hand signs in a perfect formation with the wall

John remained unmoving.

"1!" The Mizukage shouted as chakra radiated off him and a group of 4 on both side.

Silence...

"2!."

More silence...

"**3!"** The mizukage sprouted water like hands from his head which took the same form of handsigns. John merely blinked at that odd shinobi's hand began doing hundreds of handsigns making John take a step back. He gripped his railgun as a few clones appeared next to the other shinobi, making the original 15 take on 30. All of the shinobi ceased the hand signs. John saw on his armor it was fully ready for anything they had to throw at him. If it was fire he would be in A1 condition. If it was earth style he would have to weigh on what he stood on for defense. If it was lightning...

"**WATER STYLE: WATER PRISON TECHNIQUE !"**

John nearly missed it, but one of the shinobi raced forward at an alarming speed. John stepped back as the man's hand was coated in water and nearly grabbed onto him. John quickly placed his weapon on his back and grabbed the man's arm and yanked him forward, popping his shoulder ot. The kiri shinobi screamed in agony as his forearm was crushed as John punched him in the throat next, crushing his windpipe. John let go of the gasping man when he saw another man nearly appear behind him and heard the sound of water spilling next to him when he saw the man shooting water out of his mouth like a fire hose.

The water began to collect around John in a circle and slowly rose up to John's shins. John swiftly jumped up on pure instinct and rolled backwards. The shinobi charged forward with mixes of clones to throw him off and threw Hundreds of Kunai at him. John looked at the drop pod from earlier and his near sharp eyes saw the two grenades sitting at the bottom getting casted over by a shadow.

Like a gust of wind, John rushed forward through the whizzing blades and performed a charge through the shinobi's defense. Some got mowed down by brute weight while most took a smart intuitive and leapt away. The mizukage performed a few hand signs before yelling out,** "GENJUTSU: LAND OF SUFFERING!"** Many of the shinobi leaped away, fearing they would become entangled within the Mizukage's genjutsu. John heard it along with a few blades bouncing harmlessly off his armor as he came closer and closer to his destination which was only 2 feet away, a rotting hand erupted from the cobblestone ground and gripped his ankle. John however pulled his boot from the dead man's hand and kept moving forward. His HUD read no threats unless they were seen 17 meters away being the other shinobi. But more and more hands came from the ground and began to moan as if their vocal cords had become too rotted to process any sound. John ignored the mind trick and reached down and gripped both explosives before hurling one over to the Mizukage.

It flew through the air until gravity pulled it down toward the Mizukage, he looked down at the object before bursting in an explosion of water...

**BOOOOOM**

John cursed under his breath as he lost one of his only grenades, and had to block a massive ninja star from striking him. Some of the weapons ranged from simple swords to massive swords John thought were just for show. They all looked heavy, and many of them looked like they knew how to properly handle one. One shinobi sent a clone to strike chief, but he knew it wasn't real since on his life detection scanner, he couldn't see anything but the image. There was no heart beat, let alone a heat scource. John simply let the clone hit him as it fazed out of existence. He then lunged forward and decked the shinobi who tried to fool him. The mans face became smashed in as he fell back like a sack of potato's.

Soon, 5 shinobi appeared around John in puffs of water and all yelled simultaneously

**"WATER STYLE: GREAT WATER PRISON!"**

The same scenario happens again, with a very massive rising water sphere trying to envelope him. John through himself back and into a shinobi who got his body broken. John pulled out his combat knife from his sheath and slashed at the first shinobi who attacked him. The shinobi blocked the knife with a very long katana and tied to shove chief back. John whirled in a spinning motion and struck the knife out at the man, but he ducked under the strike. John quickly whirled around to hear. **"WATER STYLE: DRAGON BULLET!"** The impacts of medium sized like missiles of water came a few seconds after it was yelled, but didn't faze John as a few pushed him off balance but the rest didn't falter his attack. He jumped back in surprise as a shinobi cleaved into the cobblestone ground like butter where he once stood with a sword around 6 feet long and 3 feet wide. John rushed forward past another shinobi who successfully hit John on the shoulder with a kunai, but it bounce off.

Another shinobi threw a punch at chief, but he grabbed the man's hand and responded with a punch in the chest. He then performed a knee jab at one Shinobi who front flipped over the shinobi, and stomped his foot into Johns head. The shinobi cringed when he felt his foot become sore as he felt his foot slam into a solid surface. John pushed off of the ground flipping over a group of them, and bashed another shinobi on the side of the head. One kunoichi dodged master chiefs fist and kicked him in the chin. John backhanded the woman, snapping her neck in the process. He then felt something poke him on his lower back, and turned to see a Shinobi with a katana drawn forward. John reached out but was hit in the visor with a foot that sent him back a few feet. Then in the chest..

John was becoming overwhelmed in a tackle by 4 shinobi, but brought his arms into front swipe, knocking them all into each other and sprawling toward the left ground. John spun his heel in a full motion, and a shinobi blocked his kick with a staff. John reversed kick the shinobi, but he jumped forward and swung with all his might at Johns head. The black bamboo staff bounced off Johns head and made the shinobi get a great feeling if shaking hands. One threw an explosive tag at Johns arm, but John grabbed the man who struck him with the staff, and held him in the way for the explosive tag. Chief then kicked the man into a crowd of shinobi, crushing his collarbone in the process. 4 shinobi caught onto the man and desperately reached for the explosive tag, with one hand on it...

**BOOOOM!**

The four were blown up into a fiery blast as chunks of their body parts were flying in all directions. One shinobi survive but lost his entire leg up to the thigh. He flew back onto the ground and saw that his leg was gone. The screaming followed after...

Master chief then had to jump back as a water ball struck near his head. He turned only for a few seconds and caught a glance of the mizukage holding a single hand sign and yelled. **" ICE RELEASE: FROZEN AIR!" **

The Mizukage formulated the Spartan's strength was not to be messed with. The only way to slow him down was by dropping the temperature within the air since there was enough water to work with, and attempt to freeze him. The ice was strong... Hopefully strong enough to constrict the hulking metal behemoth.

The very air around John become a blistering cold as his armors temperature reading became so cold it was going below zero. He moved his arm and stepped back in a defensive position and noticed his motions were becoming heavier. He stepped forward roughly to strike at a shinobi who attempted to charge at him, but he moved back again as a shinobi swiped at him with a huge shuriken and another behind preformed another wave of hand signs and yelled . "WATER STYLE: BLACK RAIN JUTSU!" John felt his blade leave his hand as a ninja's wire wrapped around the base of it and yanked it out, catching him off guard. He raised his fist forward and attempted to smash the living daylights out of a shinobi who appeared out of nowhere and tried to slash into chiefs stomach.

**SWWWWISHHHH**

John felt his arm pulled to the side as a wire wrapped around his wrist and he saw 12 shinobi wrapped around a bulge of wires. He yanked his arm forward and pulled most of the shinobi along with it. But it happened all around him and became increasingly hard to make his motions continue as his leg became wrapped and then his other arm. All together, John was surrounded by 60 shinobi who all had him wrapped in a web like silvery wire trap.. Men all over yanked and pulled onto him and the ice began to from over John's visor freezing him... But he began to see some sort of black liquid pour down his vision.

**SHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**

He heard a scream exit from the sky heard a loud snapping sound of metal. The UNSC drop pod hit the ground a few meters away from chief and sliced right through the ninja wire. The lid shut off and sliced through the wire freeing John. John gained full control of his right arm, and thinking speedily, he gripped his multipurpose grenade, pinned the ring off and rolled it into the crowd of shinobi... John growled as he yanked his left arm, making the 11 shinobi lose their footing as they stumbled forward.

Most of them couldn't believe this things strength!

But all of a sudden...everything around him was engulfed in bright orange light. At first John panicked from earlier memories spurring... But his armor didn't fluctuate as it did with Didacts teleporter. He waved his as around and heard cracking. He completely thought that he was being summoned by him... but he saw that the the outside thermometer on his HUD MAINFRAME had reached around 900 degrees in a few seconds flat. All around the shinobi jumped away from the flames that had been lit up by the black oil. The mizukage sent more and more heat into the blast and wanted a guarantee that the spartan was incinerated. Some of the shinobi threw their weapons into the flames expertly, hoping that the armor would melt and it would puncture the Spartan.

Within the fiery swirl, John looked at his HUD motion scanner and saw he was surrounded on all sides by Shinobi. Like being back on Harvest when he was caught in a warthog detonation after it was struck by a wraith, John saw that he was completely engulfed in an inferno.

His Hydrostatic gel under suit could withstand up to 40,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and his body would regulate the temperature on the outside and make it for his bodily needs. John looked around and the armors visual screening adjusted to where his weapon was. He turned his head left and saw his weapon nearly at a burning point. Ignoring the swishing flames around him and the weapons being tossed at him, he calmly walked forward and grabbed his assault rifles handle...

All of the shinobi looked at the colossal fire pit where the spartan once stood and had thoughts ranging from rest and some of glory. The mizukage however was walking forward as he lowered a invisible technique and saw the flames were lighting up the corpses of the spartan had killed. He frown deeply before saying in an authoritative tone. "I want a full search into the flames as soon as there out to scavenge for any..." The mizukage suddenly got a feeling...

BANG!

The shinobi next to the Mizukage had his head blown off from the side as another few shots rang out. More and more shinobi fell with blood escaping wounds that appeared on them instantaneously. A kunoichi was smart enough to scream out. "FULL RETREAT!" and turned into a glob of water, teleporting out of the onslaught. the mizukage jumped up and heard something whizz by his head. it sounds almost like a furious honey bee, but way too quick to be one. Another shinobi who sprinted away from the flame heard another couple rounds of loud "BANGS." And began to experience the most painful thing he had felt since it had caught him completely off guard.

A few other shinobi teleported out of the massacre, running with their lives.

One male shinobi by the name of Hayate, jumped into a shop and hit behind a wooden post. He was still awaiting Goro's arrival since he had never made it to the regroup. By now he had to assume the worst and accept that he had met his gruesome end at the hands of the six tails. Hayate watched in amazement as the green Spartan, who was still on fire, walk out with his rifle raised high. Even though the flames continued to roll off his shoulders, legs, head, arms, and chest. The spartan didn't look in the least affected by the dancing flames.

The mizukage who sat on top of the roof with 3 hunter-nins scowled deeply. The mizukage look at the hunter-nins and yelled. "FIND WHO THE SUMMONER IS FOR THAT THING!" The hunter-nins looked at each other questioningly before nodding and replying "HAI!" Before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

John suddenly heard a beeping at his TACPAD and looked at it. His face dulled when he saw flames exposed over its screen making it impossible to see what was going on. His gloved hand grazed over it a few times, brushing out the flames and oil, before he saw the water and oil smudged into it further. John growled and looked for some sort of water source to put out the annoying flames, but remembered he had to get back into the strike fighter. He saw a blimp in his radar and turned to see nothing... An illusion technique would not fool him again-

**"WATER STYLE: WATER VORTEX JUTSU!"**

John saw a water in a massive portal spin like a fan towards him. He lept to the side of it, as some water splashed onto his body extinguishing the flames... Except for his head. John rolled onto his side and popped three shots into the shinobi who flew back.. Dead as he hit the ground. His clone who was infront of John disburst since its master had died...

John then looked at his TACPAD and saw what he had heard from earlier...

Something he wish he hadn't...

He looked into the distance and saw one of the tallest building within Kirigakure. The mist had cleared enough to show John that the building was built like a fortress. It was wide, with posts around it giving off an important standard being, made mostly of brick, with a odd insignia on the front.

It was tall enough, so tall it disappeared beyond the clouds above... That was the building he needed.

John set his destination on his wet TACPAD and began sprinting towards it over the dead bodies and partially destroyed street.

Even though the back of his helmet was still on fire, giving him the appearance of a flaming headed demon.

The mizukage watched as the spartan left and scowled again.

"I will end you demon... For kirigakure! FOR INTEGRITY!" He bellowed as the rest of the Shinobi, or what was left who gave chase.

**[Meanwhile on Infinity]**

A pain filled groan escaped Nawawi's lips as he pulled the covers closer to his chest and his legs curled. Inside his mind images were present running through. Memories of his mother and father, his grandfather playing with him when he was a toddler, his sister giving him a kiss on his forehead the day he left... And then there were the dreams he was having...

They were the only thing he could see, hear, and feel. It went on for what seemed like an eternity of otherworldly hallucinations. He didn't know where he was or what was happening... But all he could do was watch. The dreams differed greatly from what he was used to... The sight of something orange and blocky. Then there was something very wrong with his hand in the dream. He had no feeling of it whatsoever and it felt as if it were never truly there. Then he could feel his face pressed up against something hard and cold, as if he was hugging a metal wall. He could hear echoing noises too.

They were hard to describe and make out... But it was loud and piercing from his reminiscing dreams and ears. After that there was a huge gap of seeing nothing but gray gloomy blocks...

While he couldn't remember anything being shown... He remembered slight discomfort after an undecided amount of time. Then that discomfort went into a whole new stage of being in pain...

Nothing but pain... Then the pain turned into nothing but pure agony. He didn't know where it was coming from or the fact he couldn't move and was completely paralyzed. His stomach felt as if he were being stabbed with thousands of little knifes.

His wrist felt as if he had dipped it in molten lava, one of the most painful thing however was being knocked above his eye on his eyebrow.

All he could see were his family, hear noises here and there enter his ears but before he could do anything... He saw that thing that was very mysterious in his mind...

Or him...

A man in green with one massive orange eye that covered his face...

Nawaki groaned in pain again as his stomach churned. His heartbeat monitor which was completely wireless beeped a bit more swiftly, but nothing life threatening. He turned to his left and inhaled the scent of plastic and sanitizer and felt the soft furry blanket. His face twitched a few times... and before he knew it, his brown eyes opened for the first time in days. They were bloodshot and looked tired... But the fatigue quickly left as his vision became more clear and he was paying more attention to what was going on around him.

He blinked a few times before sitting up. His light brown hair stayed spiky and his clothes had been removed since they were ruined, and all he was wearing was a blue patient nightgown. He looked toward the ceiling which was one massive light and illuminated the room. There was a curtain on the right side of his bed that went around to the very end and blocked his view of what was going on outside. His eyes scanned to a machine beeping next to him on his left and made him stare at it odly.

It was massive with thousands of small lights and switches over shiny metal that looked as smooth as it was cool. Nawaki had a small urge to touch it... But lifted up his hand to see it was completely bandaged. He used his other hand to feel over his face and felt something hard against his eyebrow... He only had one question going through his mind as he looked around the metallic room with one window...

In fact... Nawaki got out of the comfort of the bed and let his bare foot touch the cold tiled floor and shivered when he felt a bit of a draft behind him. His feet scrunched up as they touched to cool smooth floor. He felt that his entire back was bare and the only thing he was wearing was a loose gown that made him feel naked without it. Nawaki ignored it's cool feeling and walked slowly to the window, He came within a few inches and grew increasingly worried with what he saw.

Miles upon miles of rushing oceanic water hundreds of feet below. He could see the sun shining over the rough waters and saw some massive pieces or structures of metal floating around the bottom. He squinted when he tried to pay closer attention or scan its detail. But his eyes grew wider and wider with each second he looked at what was in front of him... It was like dipping his hand in cold water when he felt his back scrunch up from fear... Was he captured?

Until he stumbled back onto the bed and felt his heart nearly bursting out of his chest...

_"Where... Am I?"_ Nawaki said out loud as he stared out of the clear window... and a few seagulls flew by without a care in the world.

**AUTHORS NOTE: ****Ideas/Constructive Criticism/ Reviews are love... They are Life. Anyway Master chief isn't out of Kiri yet, and has to get past its kage in order to get back to his crib. Dialogue on John is limited since he had to learn an entire language within a few weeks. He's tired, and doesn't want to screw up, plus in real life a leader wouldn't want to speak to you out in the open. They would either want you dead or captured.**

** Will he make it? I don't know. What was that odd thing on chief's back that repaired his Jet-pack? I can't tell you. When will I stop asking these meaningless questions? I don't know either.**

**Anyway, Merry whatever doesn't offend you and have a happy NEW YEAR!**


	8. From dust we seek truth Part 1

**AUTHORS NOTE: Welcome back, this chapter was very difficult to write due to very serious conflicts in my life... **

**Anywho, s****ome rushing rapids are going to be happening in this chapter, and we have a long way to go before we hit off any romance... But you can wait can ya? Writing this chapter was difficult since I came under a truckload of depression after failing my Math portion of a high school exit exam, and I have to rethink my life a little bit since I was on the verge of not graduating. But you know what, I despise my school district since I live in California, and I have to take that bullshit test. Its ironic to take it since there are no other states that do it... Only California. I also want to apologize for the last few mistakes last chapter since a couple of you pointed out some very important things... Well I felt bad about it and felt like an idiot, but got over it. That's all you can really do though. We're all humans so we're bound to make a mistake once every now and then. Also a thing about the stories I write is that I don't do major character bashing whatsoever. It gets the main characters to act OOC and make things sound extremely unbelievable to an extent. I try to add as much logic and realism to a story as much as possible since our world runs on that... But logic and Anime don't mix at all... Also character bashing is the most overused thing in the Naruto fandom to the highest extent with "civilian council", or Sasuke or Sakura bashing... ****Not in these stories****... Since there was no civilian council, and I don't like to be another wannabe copier. So if you came to read a bashing story you came to the wrong place.**

**Anyway, ENJOY!**

**DISCLAIMER/ HALO BELONGS TO 343 INDUSTRIES WHICH BELONGS TO MICROSOFT THAT IS OWNED BY BILL GATES. NARUTO BELONGS TO KISHIMOTO MASASHI...**

"_**We don't create a fantasy world to escape reality. We create it to be able to stay."**_

_**-Lynda Barry**_

**Chapter 8: From dust we seek truth [PART I]**

**[Konoha No Sato/ 8:21 AM]**

In Konoha, the morning day was warm and filled with clouds high in the sky. The breeze was moderately dim and held a warm feeling to it. The ongoing noise that reverberated from the dense market district. Mini shops continued to sell good to passing patrons, and those goods went to many of the donation boxes to the troops. Families crossed the over the paved roads while tending to their daily lives like every day, and the reserved shinobi within the village continued their daily D-rank missions. There were mainly Genin from ages 12 and up residing in the village while most of the chunnin and Jounin were fighting. While there was a substantial amount away, their were very few skilled Jounin and chunin in that month, leaving most of Konoha's defenses on the ANBU.

The ANBU units covered a good portion of Konoha daily and switched off different routines. It was a strategy to confuse any future offenders from planning. Or the possible act of espionage from other factions. Suna was a decent one try attempt at infiltrating Konoha more than once... Then there was the minor threats such as Yugakure and Takigakure. It would happen frequently, or happen from months at a time. They were comparable to earthquakes in a way, they would happen when they happen...

\Within the upper class district, Tsunade sat briskly in her apartment with her shapely leg crossed over the other at her counter. Across the kitchen there wasn't anything out of place and it was quite clean with the window wide open. She flipped another page in her book as the page landed softly against the other half. The apartment appeared clean and smelled of vanilla from her candles she just blew out, and a slight breeze outside blew the curtains slightly.

The red book she was reading was entitled "THE HEALING TOUCH" in yellow kanji. It was a commonly known fairy tail were a man met a woman who could heal all wounds with a single contact of flesh. The story was written by from what legend said a poor shoemaker who lost his family to an incurable illness. Throughout his life he dreamed of a healer who had a magical touch and . It had been one of her favorite stories to read when she was little by her grandmother Mito Uzumaki, who picked out the book herself a lifetime ago.

To Tsunade, it was one of those precious things that made her happy and gave her a warm feeling of nostalgia from her childhood. Most of her books ranged from medicine, mathematics, poisons, diseases, bone charts, and many other subjects based on her learning.

Today Tsunade wore a red skirt right to her mid thighs that connected on the side by two straps, a white short sleeve shirt that went to her mid chest that revealed her mesh suit clad stomach, and it was a bit tight around her more than well endowed chest. Standard black shinobi sandals, a blue short sleeved coat in Nawaki's memory since his favorite color was blue and it was known tradition to wear something after their funeral, and a mesh suit underneath that went toward her knees. She dressed to impress all the time since she had a high level of modesty and wasn't showy like some of the kunoichi in the village.

Her thoughts of Nawaki's disappearance months prior had made her have thoughts of Suicide...

Literally... She had thoughts of it at night... but could never do it. Tsunade just couldn't put herself to grips with it and had tried her best to move on... But it was harder to say than do.

She remembered that the village of Konoha had been notified of it later the day and was shocked. Nawaki's instructor was greatly saddened by the news and decided to dedicate his day to remembering his fallen student. It wasn't the first time he had received news of one of his students being marked KIA, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. His fellow students were greatly saddened at the news to a great extent, and more of their parents were also devastated from it.

A few of the renowned clans within Konoha had no feelings from it however. While some were on good terms with the Senju clan, no one really let the death of one of it's clan heirs affect them. There had been so many deaths and counting from this it was not really unexpected. It had given the Uchiha clan though slightly more power though considering one of their rivals in power had been eliminated. But they were a very undisclosed clan who never revealed any of their internal affairs with anyone not even Konoha's officials...

Sure, Tsunade would get condolences from many people ranging from citizens, officials, the Hokage, servants among the clan heads, and many acquaintance shinobi... But it didn't help much. THere was one major reason though tho the entire cause...

She had buried an _empty_ coffin...

_Her brother was __nowhere__ to be found..._

Tsunade however denied the fact that her brother was dead. There was no body or traces of limbs anywhere. A single speck of his flesh had yet to be found within the area that he was reportedly last seen in. MAny bodies of Kumo shinobi, but no Nawaki. Even 400 snakes sent by Orochimaru were unable to find a speck of him... It sounded nearly impossible since one individual snake could cover up to hundreds of feet in a few hours... Yet not a single snake around the 400 were able to find anything in that area. So it was assumed that Kumo had captured him and more than likely killed him.

But in all of those months, if Kumo had captured him they would probably would have used him as a bargaining chip in the war. Mainly to sustain more control or use it as an act of negotiations .. But Konoha did not get a single notice or telegram from them in the months...

The Hokage attempted to send in spies on to some of the prisoner camps and see if there were any possible traces of the missing Genin... But none were found whatsoever in any of the cells or chain blocks surrounding the prison camps. The Survivors that were collected and not dead didn't match his description. There was discussion of sending in a spy into Kumo, but that was a plain suicide mission that no one would take.

Not even Hiruzen himself would be that crazy enough...

She honestly felt as if part of her life had been taken away from her when her brother went missing. Her only blood relative who managed a connection with her... All gone. She felt her world shatter when they called off the search after 3 weeks. Orochimaru, even though was in alrights a selfish bastard sent out 400 of his snake summons to try and locate him... But returned with nothing. The squads and snakes searched every square inch within the border of Kumo and sent in one spy to see if Nawaki had possibly been captured.

All came back empty handed... Even if they didn't have any hands to begin with.

How could she live like this?

She had not eaten properly for days after the report, cut off all ties with her friends and acquaintances, not come in for missions for 3 days, and stayed in her apartment for many days. It took Hiruzen's order to get her to finally come out of her room... But by that time she looked absolutely horrible... and smelled bad as well. She had even lost a couple pounds from the lack of eating. Hiruzen talked with her for many hours that night. It helped patch a few wounds in her heart... But it would leave everlasting scars.

It hadn't caused her more grief to know that her brother had died since that was the main risk of being a killer in a world of killers... dying in the line of duty of protecting the village he held so much dear for... As if.

But to know that she would never know what he had died from was going to haunt her until she passed away.

She didn't know if his death was quick, or if it was painless. It was nerve racking and it was also giving her anxiety a whole new feeling to it.

It was her job to protect her little brother through thick and thin...

But she had failed like always.

Hearing his voice in her memories with constant glee in his voice caused her to go into another depressing state that would go on for hours on end...

It would always remind her of how he would constantly claim that he would surpass his grandfather. At first she thought the idea was cute, and it reminded her when she was just a little kid, having very high dreams. But as the years went on it altered more and more and more bleak.

That was life though... one rough diamond surrounded by danger.

But Nawaki wanted to be Hokage no matter the cost...

He was very stubborn... to a point she almost pounded his head into the ground.

At first the idea of being Hokage seemed out of reach since their grandfather tried so hard to reach a stalemate between the warring nations at the time, which resulted in her their battle engagements between the clans. But being Homage as something more...

It was a title not just given to anyone, not even to a blood relative of said Hokage. But after seeing his determination and indomitable will, she supported him throughout the way, and he supported her of her dreams. They were both raised by their parents to show kindness to each other, but of course like all parents they sometimes tricked and play pranks on each other...But mostly him.

And that was all that mattered, because that's all they had truthfully was each other...

But now she was alone.

It was a new feeling to her that she would have to get used to, but it wasn't going to be happening anytime soon. All she had many friends and acquaintances around her workplaces and teams, it was odd to be living in a house than anyone in its. When her parents died, and left Nawaki and Tsunade to live with each other alone, it had taken many months to get over. But it would never leave...

Tsunade breathed deeply thinking back to when she and her brother would just laze around in the park after talking about their academics. She looking for her house key when she had stumbled upon her old book that was underneath her couch. It was dusty and had a few wrinkled pages from being under their from some time.

She was so caught up in the pages she had lost track of time what she was doing. Tsunade closed her book before pushing her chair back over the floor and stood up, grabbing a few RYO out of her money cup next to the oven as she slipped it in her purse. Tsunade remembered that her spare key was in her purse and could be used to get in and out of home... Or a good few taps to the door would do with her strength.

A smile graced her lips as she remembered who had brought her partially out of her depression and was about to take her out for breakfast.

Dan Kato.

The man had the same viewpoints if everything she had thought so as well. He stood up for her beliefs and was an overall nice guy in her opinion... And quite a looker too. He wanted to be Hokage greatly which reminded her so much of Nawaki it made her warm inside. He also spoke highly of her, being the granddaughter and grandniece of the previous Hokage's. Tsunade had met him during meeting with the Third and wanted more experienced medics on field missions to lower the fatality rate by over 74%. While the offer was turned down by a majority of the vote, he had stuck up for her. He was a young man who previously had been appointed Jounin, and recently lost his sister in an attack run. Leaving him in the care of her daughter Shizune. The third had denied opening the medical school due to low funding and the slow economy. She had tried to gain a better insight with everyone despite the negative odds... But got none in a room of 30 adding her.

It was sickening to see so many people who lacked faith within her village. It would have made her parents, grandfather, and grand uncle all turn in their graves. Tsunade had wanted to be the strongest Kunoichi... But her dream was seeming like it wasn't all that.

As of today, Tsunade and Dan had been going out for 3 weeks. Their dates ranged from simple walks in the park to just lounging in the fields while eating a simple lunch. While they likeness was becoming strong... Tsunade herself felt different about her feeling for Dan when Nawaki was no where to be found. They had sent search parties over the land hidden by the cloud to locate any signs of him, but couldn't find any piece of him. Then there was some report going around of an "Orange eye giant." Which only drove Tsunade's worry to a whole new level of worry.

But as time went on... All hope of seeing her brother dimmed.

Tsunade pulled her skirt's hem up a bit as she felt an itch at her lower back.. She had wanted to plan something special for Dan tonight to celebrate their first month. He had taken her to a few places and had truly been there for her... To get her mind off the entire thing. She needed some physical release, even though the relationship had not gone further than holding hands and a few pecks on the cheek here and there...

She wanted to push her relationship with Dan a step further to show how much she cared, and was willing to sacrifice... Not because he had consulted with her when she needed it the most and since he had gone through the same situation. But because her anxiety was going through the roof, she was nervous with giving away her innocence...

But sometimes everything has to change. Her mother once told her that _"In life when you're not in love, it means kami has something special in store for you."_

And that was Dan...

...

...

...

...Or was it?

It wouldn't be Jiraiya thats for sure. The man was not exactly a sight for sore eyes. He was compassionate and serious at times needed, but Tsunade didn't want to stoop herself to a perverts standards who only was only a skirt chaser. The only reason he had begun to chase after her were due to bodily assets being added over puberty when he claimed her as "flat-chested" when they were young kids... Well not anymore. She had gone through many sizes in her few years time and when they had began to develope when she turned 13. After that it just became a blur of different sizes.

Tsunade was very spiteful towards Orochimaru, but that was his nature of course so she could not blame him. he had been like that during the very day his own parents were killed in front of him. Tsunade was given a talk to by Hiruzen and he asked her in time to find forgiveness for Orochimaru. She agreed to of course. But only to part the wall from them and their "oh so clear" friendship... Even if there wasn't much of one. When she was younger, she had a small crush on Orochimaru... But after years of being alongside him and seeing he had no formal interests in the opposite sex, Tsunade crossed him out for being perverted or legible...

Dan was not perverted in anyway... Which was surprising to say in the least. Since she had always assumed the opposite sex were either asexual or perverts. There was never a middle in her opinion.

Once a pervert, always a pervert.

She had something special in store for Dan though. Tsunade smirked to herself as she remembered buying a very lacy pair of purple lingerie at The clothing store the night before. The outer frill were black while the pair was dark purple, and the G-cup bra was purple and see through... She hoped Dan would like it. It wasn't cheap though, almost 3000 Ryo.

Oh who was she kidding... He would love it.

This was the only time they would spend some time together since she and Dan were tasked of going to an A-rank mission within the land of rain within the week. It was to take down an operation of prison camps along the border... Without being caught that is.. It was going to be dangerous from the sound of it and it was going to escalate to an uprising since Konoha shinobi weren't very adept to rainy weather. Call it bad luck if you would, but if this mission was successful Konoha would have a huge lead in the war, and knock Amegakure down a few pegs.

Tsunade began walking to her front door when she stepped on something squishy. Her eyes went to confusion when she lifted her left foot to see it was a little green toad who began grumbling. She growled before the toad who grinned and said.** "Hey lady, do ya step on all your house guests?"** The green toad said in a very thick tone. The toad was a simple messenger of Jiraiya, while this toad was a bit more perverted... He was Jiraiya's 14th favorite since the toad had a bit of an attraction to human females.

"Only the ones that show up uninvited..." Tsunade muttered angrily as she took a step back from the toad who looked up with a deadpanned look, then back toward Tsunade's face. If the toad was playing with fire before he was walking on thin ice with what he was about to say next. **"Purple huh?" **The toad grinned its warty lips after getting a free show of black roses on purple thread. That would really make any man's day...

...But he never saw Tsunade's high heel come at him like a raging bat out of hell.

**SQUISH!**

**"DEAR KAMI LET ME GO!" **The toad exclaimed loudly as Tsunade's sharp heel was beginning to dig into his back nearly drawing blood. She lifted her foot up slowly with a detested look on her face as the toad cleared his throat gratefully. Like Jiraiya, he too was a victim to Tsunade's moments** "ALRIGHT! The humble super pervert of Mōunt Myoboku humbly requests that you take him on a night of-**

"I already said to him once 900 times ago I'M NOT GOING ON ANY DATES WITH HIM!" Tsunade screamed at the top of her lungs making the windows shake lightly. Ever since Jiraiya had found out Tsunade started to date someone for the first time... He was heartbroken... Well for about 3 hours before he went back to his old ways. The stress had certainly not left from the last couple weeks of night grief. Tsunade was stuck between making a big bodily decision with herself, dealing with Jiraiya's constant excuses, and the thought of Nawaki.

**"-leaving as soon as possible. Got it."** The toad said as he exploded in a puff of smoke. Tsunade shook her hair lightly. She had recently redid her hair style and changed it from one pony tail to two that went down her back. She liked her hair down better since her original hairstyle kept getting caught whenever she was on missions, or she was running through the branches of the trees. It was either cutting off, or letting it go down toward her back. Now she didn't want to cut her blond hair so short that she got mistaken for someone else... So she took the alternative route from Sarutobi's wife. She was at first skeptical to change it, but it felt

Tsunade brushed her skirt down a bit, peeved off that a toad. A TOAD. Was checking me out! Out of all people... Or reptiles in this case. Tsunade looked over her apartment, looking at the pictures and tables to make sure everything looked presentable for Dan when he came over for the night. She stopped to glance at Naoki's chair with his ne engraved at the top in gold kanji writing. It had been a birthday present to him the day he was born, a gift from their father. The chair was made out of the purest would he had ever created and chopped down to build the home... And what was left was made into a chair. Nawaki

The jewel itself was worth mountains filled with gold, but it was a true family heirloom that could never fall into the wrong hands.

To Tsunade... It was all of her brother she had left to remember him by physically. It had his smell in it, and she could still remember his grin the day she had given it to him. Tsunade looked at her necklace around her neck before she grasped it and kissed it softly. She looked up at the clock and saw the time was 9:00 AM on the dot. Her hand let go of the necklace as it fell in between her cleavage before she walked to the front door, grasped the brass handle, opened it, and left the apparent a minute later locking her door.

Tsunade later went toward the shopping district with purse in hand, and completely oblivious to her surroundings. Her thoughts were only set on one thing only at the moment, and that was her day with Dan. Though referring to anything other than that were irrelevant as of now. It would do nothing and wouldn't change anything, She deserved this time of solace... She needed it.

Even though the pain would never leave, and would continue to ache like a mind numbing nerve. It would subside eventually. Tsunade was not a weak person, just a daydreamer when it came to happier sides of life...

However, anything was but Happy in the Konoha. Due to the ongoing months of constant warfare, it had taken its toll on not only lives but had resulted in millions or Ryo. It ranged around for food, clothing, and tools toward the shinobi. The village had to cut back on missions which brought in money and focus soey on the battle, and save up on rations for the troops. It wasn't easy, nothing ever truly was during these times of death and despair. But humans were adaptable creatures and the citizens strived on towards their daily life like every other day for the last couple of years.

Today Tsunade wasn't differed from anything as she waited patiently near the light post with her hands to her side. The warm air touched her cheek and she breathed in the scent of fresh leaves along the sidewalk. She saw many of Konoha's many patrons walking through the streets and giving her space across the sidewalk. Several of them conversed with their daily routines of shopping, selling and dealing with the fundamentals of family life...

While Tsunade waited for her date and their night on the town... A callous storm was brewing in the land of hidden mist hundreds of miles away...

**[Kirigakure/ 1:08 PM]**

In a damp alleyway a burly middle aged hunter nin walked past a dark red dumpster full of the districts trash. The smell caused his nose to intake and make him cringe. He looked back and forth tdow the alley with his green eyes. He lugged a massive clever over his shoulder and kept his grip wrapped around it. But his instincts took notice to something running across the pavement. It was dark liquid from the dumpster and it ran across the stone cold ground. Curiosity got the best of him as he walked over to the smelling garbage, placed a bare hand on the top lid much to his disgust, and lifted it up. Shock overtook his facial features as he saw his partners mangled corpses inside the dumpster.

Both arms were broken at the elbows sporting bones sticking out. His legs were crumbled to the point they didn't look very much like legs anymore, and his chest was filled with holes of the dozen. Blood was seeping through his armor and globs of blood were exiting his mouth. His face held no life whatsoever... Since there was a massive fist sized hole where his nose should have been. The back of his skull could clearly be seen, and that was something no one should have ever seen. The lower part of his jaw was all that was on his face, while his nose and eyes had been caved inward...

The hunter nin gasped as he stepped back letting the lid fall and emit a loud CLANG, and forgetting his surroundings...

This was a trap...

Like a gust of wind, The Master chief appeared right behind a Kiri shinobi with a knife in his left hand. He bashed the shinobi on the back of his head with his elbow stunning him greatly. John then gripped the man's face the the other hand and pulled him close. The shinobi was seeing stars and felt his brain rattle from it and couldn't see since it happened so fast. He was in the beginning stages of experiencing a concussion from the unknown amount of PSI delivered in the elbow strike. His vision was blurry, numbness around the spot he was hit at, and some major nausea was beginning to take effect.

John raised his blade upward in a stabbing motion, and like a snake he brought it down on the shinobi's neck. The knife did its work as it severed skin, tissue, muscle, and a few veins. The shinobi saw his entire world begin to turn to black within a few milliseconds. Blood escaped his neck like a flowing river and ran down his shoulder. John tore the knife out of the mans flesh evoking the sound of flesh being torn and shoved him forward, making him hit the pavement like a sack of meat.

Master chief looked down at the man he had to "terminate" and made sure he was staying down. After a few seconds of no response, and the fact his heart rate had flatlined, he sheathed his blade as the blood dripped off it onto the ground. Since the knife was coated in stainproof metal, making it untraceable if the blade were tracked. His back tensed when he caught a glimpse of a group of Shinobi appear on his HUD. They would more than likely raise an alarm and alert any nearby Kiri. Looking to his left on on instinct for a spot to evade them... he gained an idea...

In the village of Kiri it was the exact opposite of peacefulness... It could however be described in a few unsatisfactory words...

It was utter chao.

27 districts were nearly destroyed, 164 homes were demolished, 64 businesses were in total ruins, and around hundreds of citizens were dead while many were still missing. The village had just received a surprise attack from Amegakure with the legendary Six tailed beast and caught them off guard. Amegakure shinobi were surprisingly calling back a full retreat after they had lost the Six tails, leaving Kirigakure the Victor's, and the Six tails was in the process of being sealed. While the village was aware of such fables, it had never taken the safer precautions in case of one. They were rare to encounter... Almost as rare as finding a hidden oasis in the middle of a scorching desert.

A tailed beast would normally be docile toward anything that crossed its path and avoid it. But in the wild it would attack anything that were to pose a threat to it. They were not known only for their enormous power reserves, but also considering the fact no one had ever triumphantly killed one. Stories would spread across nation after nation of attacks, but there would never be a victory. Hundreds of devastatingly powerful jutsu's were landed upon the 3 tails one time in the land of stars, but the beast left without a single injury. This had rolled on for many years for a plethora of the tailed beasts. All except for the nine tailed kyuubi no Yoko. The nine tailed beast had not been seen since the end of the first world war between the fight of Madara Uchiha, and Hashirama Senju.

Almost disappearing mysteriously...

Some say it died that day... Others say it went back to the underworld...

In the present, one of the tailed beasts was subdued for the first time in over 2 generations. The plan was for Ame to raise as much damage to Kiri and stall them, giving them enough time to seige it.. Then they would advance their forces into the village and take over from the inside. This plan was almost successful. Yet, it had failed miserably. The troops were uncoordinated in the side attacks and were ultimately scratched out from exitance. Kiri was more adept to the land and had a better

Someone _though..._

A trio of hunter-nin sprinted past a building shouting as their leader lead the way through the mist. They were right next to the massive building known as the Kage tower. It was currently on heavy lockdown for the moment. Kiri's forces had been successful in capturing the Six tails and being able to push back Ame's forces as well. Now as the village was gaining control, they were left to deal with the armored man.

He thought they saw a shadow slip past them into the distance. In this situation it could have been an ally, Ame nin, or the spartan. With a swift order of apprehension of the target, and shushin, he took after the unknown shadow in chase like a swift current. It was hard to pinpoint the Spartan's actual location for many reasons in the last 20 minutes. He ran at the speed that no man should run at. It was like trying to chase a hummingbird through darkness, almost like an absolute blur. When the Mizukage, who was very adept in sensing chakra tried to pinpoint the Spartan... He didn't sense any within him. Amazingly, this didn't stop them from giving chase.

They tried to keep up with the Spartan when he tried to give them all the slip into the village...

But that is what he had wanted... later on at least.

Many of the Kiri shinobi who went into the misty village... Some would return to their homes with family... While most would not return home at all and get a new home in the cold soil 6ft below.

What they didn't notice was that above them, scaling the wall like a spider, was the Master chief scaling the building. He had already scaled 21 feet off the ground already and still made

He had pushed through 43 shinobi ranging from Kiri nin's to Ame nin's on his way to this location. It was a spur of the moment strategy, since he had never set foot in the desolate village before. He had no idea where he was going or where to go to. Cortana would always give him a relay of the area, making her his eyes and ears. But without her it was tough being alone... He had gone in a complete circle in the chaos and nearly got lost. He needed to avoid being caught in a crowd like before. The water jutsu was a very profectiv jutsu if it had been used correctly against him, but didn't cause much damage to his balance.

Amegakure from what he had previously heard had complete control of that beast the six tails. John didn't know what happened to it after he escaped from the mizukage... But he honestly didn't care. He had what he needed, and now needed to get off this god forsaken village and back to base.

It had been the first time he had run from the enemy in years, mind that it was a hundred foot tall slug though. He was very lucky to have had survived it and made it out with only minimal injuries. John would have to be wiser to fill the Strike fighters along with the Pelicans more thoroughly. More ammunition and more amor equipment attachments to at least be able to have a fighting chance against anything like that ever again. Master chief had a difficult time when it came to hunters... But this thing was a whole new league.

Were these villages using animals to fight for their wars?

John ignored the thought and dug his fingers into the wall, eliciting a small dribble of dust to escape a newly formed hole. His fingers could probably dig into steel with the armor on, and this stone was soft underneath from the constant mist around it. He growled as he continued to climb the massive building and thought of what his first encounter with the shinobi would have been like... And it wasn't a good one to begin.

John took his fingers out of the rock once more before slamming his fingers into the stone above him. He kept repeating the process for 12 minutes before his entire vision was engulfed by the thick mist. His vision was null at the moment... But his range meter was still active and glowing bright yellow on the top right corner of his HUD. John read he was only 12 feet from the top and repeated the process. The climb into the thin stone was easy, and a good workout. The structure had a few stones that stuck out and provided good leverage to climb on. The tip of his boots were even a bit pointy enough to create holes were his fingers had been before, making manual steps for him to climb on. He pressed harder into the stone while trying to keep the volume down... his Scanner was picking up movement through the wall and saw many figures pass by. He stopped his motion and waited for them to pass...

Now and then John would tighten his hand to keep a steady grip, in fear that he would plummet and alert the village. He was able to avoid around 3 groups of Shinobi who proved to be worthy trackers. John had to pinpoint where they were exactly, in case they came down upon him and he would fill them full of lead.

He waited for 2 minutes as he heard the wind blow against his helmet. His fingers buckled, his feet dug deeper into the wall, and he licked his lips as they were becoming increasingly dry. He looked at his HUD once more until he saw the floor around him was clear within a 25 meter radius and he continued his journey.

About a few seconds of moving, he heard something cutting the air behind him, out of instinct John moved his head slightly to the left.

**SHINK!**

He looked to his left to see a metal hook embedded into the wall with a steel cable. John saw the line shake a little before he saw a red blimp appear on his HUD. He reached quickly for his magnum and aimed over his head. With his eyes trained over his shoulder, John shot into the mist but could see the outline of a Kiri shinobi sliding on the line. The shinobi was struck twice in the chest before he fell from the wire and lost his balance. Another line stabbed the wall, and soon more followed. John aimed his eyes at the metal pieces that were connect to the wire and used his helmets aiming to pinpoint a weak spot. The auto aim reticle was green as I scanned over the clasp ring on the metal wire, before it turned red and beeped.

**BANG!**

The metal ring snapped in half under the bullet piercing it in an instant and released the rope connected to it. John locked onto another clasp ring before firing at it. On his scanner a Kiri shinobi ran at him from above, by running down the wall. John aimed upward at the shinobi and shot at him, making him lose his concentration as he fell. John leaned to the side as the shinobis body flew past him.

His scanner displayed more and more targets as his vision became visible around him. Almost as if he were caught in an enclosing circle of shinobi. John bashed his other hand quickly on top into the wall and sprung upward in a jump. He reeled back his arm and shot it forward, going straight through the rock where he latched on the inside. He clipped his mangum back to his thigh, and reached over his shoulder for his rifle and felt his fingers grasp the handle. Pulling the assault rifle to the side, aiming forward he waited for his homing beacon to lock onto anything. During the coldest missions on the certain parts of Harvest deep within the mountain, Spartans consisting of red team were given tune ups in their helmets to see through dense snow storms or fog to spot any Sangheili. Throughout operations, Spartan's saw the Covenant forces and search team. It had contributed greatly in multiple engagements, but the sheer number of Covenant infantry proved to be too much for Red team and UNSC effort... Or Forge...

After a second, the red reticle on his HUD scanned through fog and locked onto someone's outline. The Shinobi, who was coming directly toward him with hostile intentions lunged suddenly. The master chief pulled the trigger into the man who flew at him, and heard the bullets exit the barrel, and pierce the man. Then a there was a yell in pain and choking. John didn't stop for long as he he fired were his targets locked on and let the bullets fly into many directions as the shinobi panicked. John looked at his TACPAD and was going to press for a run by, but couldn't pinpoint it with everything going on around him.

John took an evasive maneuver as a kunai with an explosive tag embedded above his head by a few inches. He let go of the wall and let gravity pull him down. He smashed his fists into the wall and stuck there when he heard a boom above him. John ducked his head down when rocks and boulders began to fall down toward him. They looked rather large and could easily knock him off the wall and back down into the clutches of the shinobi.

Seeing that he had no where else to evade to. He tightened his grip and noticed how thin the rock was. Gaining another idea, he swung backward in a swinging motion but kept his hands in the stone like a monkey bar and smashed his feet into the wall. He kicked his feet forward until the wall began to crumble under the force. The motion scanner on his HUD showed six individuals were inside the room, possibly more enemies around but he had no choice but to breach.

The wall caved inward as two shinobi were caught completely off guard as a unimaginable force slammed into them. The Master Chief leaped inside the room by letting go of the good portion of the wall above him, and rolled forward. One shinobi sprinted up to John to skewer him with a large mace, but John whipped his knife out of his sheath and sliced into the mans face. The knifes blade cut him diagonally across his eyes dead center and Immediately began to bleed a river.

His eyes and nasal cavity were practically sliced in half like butter. He roared in pain as he reached up to ease the pain, but had no time to react as the Master chief gripped the man by his head on both sides and twisted his neck in a backward motion. The shinobis neck snapped like a twig as he fell to the floor dead. John twirled his blade around and gripped it between his thumb and index finger. He spotted one shinobi in the background moving his hands in several hand signs, suing that he was going to be caught, he threw the knife at full force. The shinobi yelled.

**"WATER STYLE: WATER BULL-**

His attack shout was cut off as the 12 inch thick blade stabbed directly into his forehead, slicing cleanly through his skull. The man's face froze as his voice quivered and he began to flail his legs. The balance in his brain was gone as he fell over onto his chest.

John raised his hand and shrugged off a strike from one shinobi who tried to smash into him by raising his arm. Then he attempted to send an uppercut to John, but the uppercut hit nothing but air as John jumped over him. Another shinobi sent a genjutsu clone at John by trying to fool him with running erratically behind cover. For a minimal split second it had almost fooled him...

But he shook his head to block out the effect on his mind and reassured the HUD presence sequence that showed no living force. John bashed the shinobi away with the butt of his gun on his face, proking the shinobi to bare his teeth in pain as he felt his nose broke. He raised his hands up to his face to ease the pain around the ridge of his nose, but this was a fatal mistake as he took his eyes off the Master chief.

In almost every life threatening situations, the worst thing to possibly do was to take your eyes off your opponent. A dangerous one at that caliber especially. If you had more experience when it came to your enemy, you would have a higher chance of victory... It you don't...

The Master chief lined the sight up and shot him four times in the chest. John asserted his HUDS controls and looked at the Shinobi who tried to cast another jutsu at him. The Shinobi was shaking in fear as he looked at all his comrades around, clutched his eyes before growling. John paid no mind as he aimed toward the man and squeezed the trigger.

**BANG!**

The once angry face contorted to dead shock as his head flew back with a gaping bloody hole in the center. The muscles below the skin in his face slowly calmed down as bits of brain with small pieces of fragmented skull hit the wall behind him; giving it a new permanent color. His body stumbled a few feet backwards before his legs turned to jelly and he fell forward onto a desk...

His blue eyes scanned the room and took mental notes of where a door was over the dead bodies. He saw there was one on his left next to a bookcase and was painted red. John stepped forward with his magnum lowered and saw the shinobi on his HUD were closing in on him from the opening in the wall. John gripped the grenade on his back waist and rolled it to the hole that he entered from. The grenade rolled a few inches below the hole as a shinobi was about to enter, and exploded.

The blast took out a good portion of the floor above and caused it to collapse in on itself. The shinobi that tried to get the drop in chief was blown out of the building and to pieces.

John reloaded another fresh clip into his magnum and clipped it back down to his thigh. He took his assault rifle and checked the ammunition in the slot.

_4 clips left._

When John observed the room he saw clusters of desks lined across the and papers littering them. He also observed papers with folders in them.

His eyes scanned over the writing in black ink on the yellow paper across the top. His eyes scanned the writing and he became curious to what they were about. He stepped over a few papers and looked down to see he was standing on a cluster of it. He read the top part on the first stack which said for a certain person only...

**"KAGE'S EYES ONLY. ANY INFORMATION TO BE LEAKED THROUGH WILL BE CONSIDERED TREASON"**

John reached down and picked up the folder as a few dribbles of dust and pebbles rolled off it and onto the floor. He shook the paper lightly to ruff it out and let it become flat again. He flipped open the pages and let his eyes scan the first one on the several steps sections of the paragraphs... And he was impressed of what he had found.

**"ANY REPORTS OF SEVERAL SUB-FACTIONS WITHIN THE LAND OF FIRE, WE'VE RESPONDED TO THEIR ATTACKS WITH SIMILAR COUNTERMEASURES. THE MOST BASIC APPROACH WITH ANY TYPE OF FACTION IS TO AVOID IT AT ALL COST, AND RETURN TO IT LATER WITH LARGER DIVISION. THIS OPERATION WILL TAKE PLACE WITHIN THE NEXT COMING OF DAYS AND WILL BE PUSHED INTO."**

"**FURTHER REPORTS OF ARMORED MAN HAVE YET TO BE REPORTED..."**

John stopped reading their and became surprised. It would seem he had caught the eye of the leader of the land of the hidden mist. Now that someone was beginning to analyze him, he began to read again.

**"NOTHING ELSE IS TO BE ANNOUNCED TO THE HUNTER-NINS UNTIL MORE INFORMATION IS COLLECTED ON THE MATTER OR MYSTERY. IF THE INVESTIGATION LEADS TO AN INDETERMINATE RESOLVE, IT WILL BE FILED FOR FUTURE REPORTS. IF PROVEN CLEAR ,PHASE TWO OF CAPTURING IT BEGINS."**

"**KONOHA HAS ALSO HAD SPECULATION TO HAVE LOSING ONE OF IT'S NEXT CLAN HEADS, SENJU NAWAKI. FROM COLLECTED REPORTS BY SEVERAL OF KIRIGAKURE GENIN. SOME COLLECTED REPORTS ALSO SAY IT'S WAS THE SAME ARMORED DEMON WHO WAS WITHIN THE AREA OF THE TIME. IT HAS BEEN THEORIZED THAT THE ARMORED MAN HAD BEEN RESPONSIBLE."**

A frown grew on John's face as he stopped the reading. He wasn't surprised that they would have found some sort of information on his appearance from before. Also considering the ones he hadn't killed who had seen him most definitely told their elders of him.. The shinobi were masters of espionage and secrets... It was nearly impossible for him to remain hidden.

John looked back and continued to take in the information.

**"SENJU NAWAKI IS TO BE CAPTURED IF SEEN.. OR FOUND. AN ULTIMATUM LETTER IS TO BE SENT KONOHA NO SATO BY THESE GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATE SYSTEM ("**N 25° 0' 00", W 030° 0' 00").** ANY OTHER INFORMATION MUST BE PROCESSED BY THE WATER DAIMYO OVER THE CONVENTION PROCESS OF UP TO 2 WEEKS. ANY QUESTIONS WILL BE HELD WITH THE COUNCILS REPRESENTATIVES."**

John took mental notes of those important coordinates as he kept reading speedily.

**"FUTHER DETAIL ON THE MAN IN ARMOR, KUMO WAS IT'S LAST KNOWN LOCATION. SEARCH PARTIES WERE UNSUCCESSFUL WITH COLLECTING ANY PROOF OR CLUE OF IT'S WHEREABOUTS..."**

_"Kumo?"_ John thought questioningly of the name of the previous location. That was the name of that forest with rocky mountains... John was beginning to question how many nations, or villages were on this planet, because if each nation took part in their own powers, he needed to remember where to stay away from. Kumo had lightning users...

He would discuss record this later, as his eyes rolled over the oncoming words.

"**ANY REPORTS FROM KIRI SHINOBI ABOUT EITHER MATTER ARE TO BE HANDED IN TO THE MIZUKAGE ON LEARNING OF IT. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL BE CONSIDERED TREASON AND DEALT WITH CAPITAL PUNISHMENT..."**

John folded the folder tightly after finishing reading and placed it on the side of his belt compartment. The folded papers would help greatly to his search for Konoha and a better understanding of the ethics within this government. John was also lucky to have found this room when he had flown in. He had to leave and didn't have much time to search for any more papers.

He looked on his scanner to see it flicker a few times before feeling his chest chafe a bit. He looked down to his armor that was slightly burned and smelled odd in a way. His armor radiation reading was picking up traces of toxicity from varying levels. They were in the warning stages that could lead to eventual sickness. He was wondering what had gone him exposed to radiation... But then he had remembered the last thing he had fought along the way here...

It was right to assume that the attack from the six tails was deadlier than he could have imagined. When fighting with animals, it was normal to feel no fear from them. In his days on Reach the gúta were weak animals with no coordinated attack planning. Only rushing forward to gouge their meal to death... But a living thing that could project harmful energy, took his cautious attitude to a whole new level. The ball of energy residue was minimal of an unknown radiation, from his HUD's readings. It was burning on his skin through his armor and it was going to cause him to become sick from radiation poisoning if he didn't properly clean off the armor correctly. He was still wondering how all that radiation in that ball of energy house that level of radiation. Almost as if it were a mini-nuke with no containment cylinder.

John looked over the room one last time... And decided it was time to leave from here. He marched steadily over to the wooden door and kicked it down with one push of his heel. He aimed forward quickly and clicked the safety off his rifle, like he had always done. He aimed forward through the yellow painted hallway and watched his scanner. He stepped out and looked down the yellow walled and stoned floor hallway and saw a few blips appear.

He turned around and saw nothing but the yellow plastered wall.

But he knew that was false... Form the life signatures.

He opened fired at the "wall" and instead of plaster dust and smoking bullet holes, splotches and globs of blood exploded out. The three shinobi that were trying to remain hidden and attack the spartan were revealed in a matter of a few seconds. The HIDDEN JUTSU on them faded as they appeared fully, and were then cut down by the barrage of bullets. All three of them hit the floor after 4 seconds of a non stop a fire rate, and blood pooled around them. Mixing in with the metal shell casings and plaster dust from the wall.

John looked down at the men as their wounds smoked lightly and blood began to sprawl slowly over the floor toward his boots. He looked behind him and saw a staircase going up. He ran towards it at full speed and looked to see if anyone was going to get in his way... He didn't see anyone on this floor, but a large amount on the floor below him.

_Approximately 17 unknowns._

Then again, there was a high inevitable chance the "Unknowns" were hostile.

He went toward the wooden staircase and saw that it lead toward a door with with writing in Kanji read _"Twenty third floor."_

He proceeded up the wooden stairs in a quick haste and sped through the door. He immediately took notice of more shinobi that were beginning to close in on him from the sound emitting from down the hall. He heard feet running silently over the floor, then the sound of wind being cut, and the sound of yelling and gasping. Master chief turned toward the door and proceeded to look for any possible ways to stop them from surrounding him. He searched for any possible means to barricade the door. But he decided nothing would hold them out.

Instead, he continued to progress down the hall as he kept his rifle aimed downward toward the door in case of any followers willing to take him by surprise. His scanner was going off the charts as 30 or so red dots were appearing like crazy. He was becoming notorious as the seconds lingered. If he wasn't out of here in the next few minutes he could possibly be swamped by an entire village of shinobi.

He only had so many rounds within the Strike fighter, possibly around 2,300 rounds to say at least. He didn't properly count them all but from the number of the loading shell cases he loaded in, which ranged to 12 cases that each carried 300 rounds each... 3600 bullets he had. Not with him, but that could be accessed. However, considering the village was full to the brim in his mind, he had to begin a full retreat. As he made a left up another stairwell, he was surprised by a wire ...

The Master Chief was suddenly surprised by a hail of small metallic objects falling from above. He instinctively jumped over the side of the hall and waited for the hundreds of small objects to hit the floor like a scatter of rain. As they did, thousands of small chinks sounded throughout the room quite loudly, echoing off the walls. When he paid closer attention to what he was looking at on the floor, his curiosity went flat when he saw that it wasn't a threat. From what he was observing, they looked like needles but form together to make these sharp objects that could have sliced him into ribbons if he was out of armor... He was becoming tense as the mission went on and was becoming more and more cautious even for the non threatening weapons.

Although the weapons had no effect on him, the Shinobi's abilities were not to be underestimated whatsoever. What is a consent, I shall be at the building of the elements ranging from fire, water, and lightning.

The ice release had really caught him off guard. Who was suspecting ice control as well? The water users within a nation that is. But if they can manipulate water, could they alter the temperature also? He needed to adjust to his surroundings more clearly or else it could have ended him right there. John did not know why the shinobi did not combine all jutsus or their powers together, but he really needed to find out a way to counteract these attacks if he was going to make it in this world and find a way home. He had nearly been subdued...

The Covenant was dangerous due to their number an unimaginable firepower it they held with them at the same time. He didn't know how many villagers or shinobi were within the area. But he had no time to find out, and didn't want to find out first hand. He was almost incapacitated again, and it was starting to become very troublesome.

Meanwhile in Konoha, every Nara clan member sneezed simultaneously.

John was suddenly aware of another presence next to him. Almost like a sudden appearance nearly caught him off guard. He automatically threw his fist toward the left, hoping to stun the surprise attacker.

His first hit nothing but air as he saw the shinobi duck underneath and respond with an upper kick to John's chin. The kick did not faze Master Chief in any way as his head didn't move an inch. John heard a grunt of pain from the shinobi and then saw him jump back expertly back flipping a few times. The shinobi nearly tripped up on his foot that he used to kick master chief and ended up spraining it. Master chief then heard an incoherent shout and ducked under a water jutsu as it flew over his head.

Master chief rolled forward over the granite floor like a blur in attempt to confuse the enemy. The shinobi cursed under his breath as he began doing hand signs again to strike the metal demon that had broken into the cognate hour. He had been is shinobi for over 40 years of his life and he had never seen anything like this before...

When he had first heard of attack and carry by the six tailed beast, he was just believed and vowed to take it down. But when he arrived he was stunned to see it subdued by a single man... Or something that is. He didn't know what this thing was at first sight. The nameless shinobi could assume it was a man from the stature and features right off the bat. The broad shoulders and lengthy arms gave off a very masculine frame. That and there was the deep rugged voice from the man. The Shinobi did not know what it was capable of at first, but had a duty to uphold and take it down...

_Oh how difficult that had been._

He was one of the many shinobi who had in question tried to physically tackle the man to the ground to see if they could get a hold on him and try to kill him... He used the word tried since getting him to hold still was near impossible. He had to use almost every ounce of muscle in his arm and a an advanced taijutsu technique to try and knock him over. Yet nothing . He tried to possibly move his joints and muscle tendons in certain forms where it would become painful for the Spartan to move. Then he could get a hold of him...

But alas, that had failed miserably.

He had never felt something so strong before in his entire life, like this man was _fifty_ men at once.

When he was a young boy, he worked on farms and had two acres of land working with wild animals, such as massive buffaloes . And they can knock down 5 men with just one swing.. He just fought all the trained shinobi like they were pebbles and he was a mountain. But the thing that appalled him the most throughout the entire fight was the fact that this man didn't use any ninjutsu or genjutsu against him... Just brute strength and the most odd hand to hand combat form he had ever seen.

The style and form was nothing he had seen before... He had traveled to various lands in his day and fought against 13 different types of taijutsu users. Many were formidable, while some were very deadly... But this combat style he had never seen before.

He was a threat and he had to be taken down now!

Master Chief re-evaluated where the man was and how close he would be to him before he leveled the rifle forward and shot the man's legs. The bullets sliced through the air at its fastest velocity and cut through the man's legs like butter. His face contorted to pain as he fell over clutching his knees in pain as blood spewed out of his kneecaps. He felt as if the tibia had shattered and begun to burn increasingly hot and too much for him to handle.

The Master Chief quickly stood straight up and shot the man twice in the chest, instantly killing him. Blood seeped through the flak jacket and began to pour out through his chest as the life left his eyes. The master chief then sprinted over the man's now bleeding body and ran towards the near endless hall toward an exit. His loud footsteps could probably be heard from down to the lower floor but he had regard of being silent. He ran a few more feet before he made another left... and saw a door that was made of metal. It stood at the very end of the hall and read in bright green painted letters above the door. _"ROOFTOP ACCESS." _

Automatically, The master chief walked forward slowly and cautiously. His eyes scanned the hallway and took notice of some of the doors leading to various rooms. His instincts told him to tread carefully, otherwise he was in for a surprise... Then it happened.

The lights in the hallway were lit at the moment on the ceiling, but they suddenly turned off with a loud click and the sound of a machine halting. The once lit hallways became a very very pitch black room with the never ending hall in John's mind... But that didn't mean he couldn't see. John looked around with his highly advanced eyes that could still see clearly. He looked at his scanner and kept his rifle aimed forward and turned around to make sure no one was following him to the dark hallway. The scanner though began to beep loudly at something on his left. He turned around and faced a closed wooden door., and pooped 4 shots through the thin wood.

After about 2 seconds, he heard someone groan and then the sound of something slumping over onto the floor roughly. The master chief pushed the already unlocked door slowly and saw a dead bleeding man with 4 bullet wounds slumped against the wall. Two were in his chest right below his collarbone, one was in his shoulder, and the other was in his neck right were his jugular vein should be. John stepped out of the room and began to walk again to the metal door...

There was only a few feet away from him and he was so close to escaping it... But he did not know how far it was from the actual exit.

John could hear wind movement from the left... As in someone was moving so fast that the scanner wasn't be able to pick them up quick enough, or he was caught another illusion but it had managed to sneak past him and slipped into his mind. John didn't know what was happening, but he felt like the room is becoming tighter as he searched for a presence. His scanner then showed a

**"WATER STYLE: IMPLODING WATERBOMB!"**

It was right over his head.

It happened so quickly and fast and he had no time to calculate what had happened or even process it when something smashed into the back of the skull. The impact forced his massive body to fly forward, face planting into the wooden floor resulting it in being smashed. He felt his entire body rattle from the inside out after being struck in his central nervous system. His mental systems registred what was going on and he automatically rolled forward grabbing his assault rifle. He turned around as fast as lightning as he held his rifle forward. He saw a small silhouette in the distance, but when his vision cleared or adjusted after a few seconds his eyes widened behind his visor...

It was a kid.

No older than 13.

The kid at Black scraggly hair and was easily around 4 foot 3 inch. He wore a standard shinobi uniform consisting of the dark grey flak jacket with no pockets. A white dirty bandage wrapped around his thigh tightly. Grey pants and a red patch around his left knee. Master Chief had to halt his thoughts when the kid rushed forward with the knife and hand and try to slice at his visor. That's cheap jump back and get this rifle trained on him. He didn't know what to do at this point...

... and was debating whether he should kill the kid or not. It was mind numbingly

The kid lurched forward and tried to spin kick at Johns gun to see if he could catch take it. John however stepped back and attempted to grab the kids wrist and tried to rip the knife out of his hand... But it didn't stop the kid from using his other open hand.

And then the boy shouted.

**"WATER STYLE: WATER WHIP!"**

A snake like being of water formed in the middle of the narrow hallway out of thin air and lunged at Chiefs back. The Sizable form knocked him forward making them roll flat on his face and stunning him momentarily. The ground cracked slightly from the surprising weight and nearly caved in to the next floor. John spun his heel across the floor and angled his rifle at the kid while the water with came at him again. But this time, he was was able to move to the side and rush forward toward the kid.

Master Chief made a split second decision and pulled the trigger at the boy.

**BANG!**

The young shinobi felt an explosion of pain at his shoulder and spun around in a 90 degree circle, before slamming into the wall with a great amount of force. He slid down and clamped his hand on his shoulder and screamed at feeling an incredible burning sensation. It was almost like being stabbed with a scorching piece of metal right after it had been pulled from the fire... His fingers dug into his skin as he tried to figure out what had happened. In a few seconds he felt adrenalin rushing and leave when that bullet hit. Blood was seeping through the boys finger and began to

The barrel of the gun kept smoking and John said in a low voice.

"Listen..." John started loudly to gain the boys attention. In all rights he would have put him down... But for some reason it was wrong to try and take him on. The boy did hold himself true to a fighter... But he lacked patience... Every young child lacked patience... And that is why they didn't belong on the frontlines of war." I'm going to give you a warning..." Master chief spoke while aiming the gun at the boy. "Leave now and you'll live."

The boy's screams stopped slightly as he looked at Chiefs orange visor shaking. If regular situations, John would have put the kid down right there. He was attacking him and he was to be neutralized.

The boy was not faring better at the moment. His shoulder felt like it was on fire! Sweat spilled down the side of his face and his lip quivered like a shaken leaf. His heart was pounding through his chest from the unknown strike that had caused this. Was it poison? Or was it His face was unmistakable for a mere second... But John then saw the boys face contort to fear, then anger just as quick.

"I won't lose to some talking pile armor. It won't make me run, for that is my strength." The boy pushed himself off the wall with his clammy palm and held his still bleeding shoulder with the other. Master chief then knew this boy was dead set on not leaving from this. The village must have done something to these kids to make them this... Admirable, toward their cause. Truthfully, it was almost like looking in a mirror... Minus the brief monologue he was given from the boy.

Master chief then completed on shooting the kid... His decision was wearing thin since he was running out of time and nearing his destination was becoming farther and farther from him. Master chief turned the safety on his gun after deciding, stared at the boy who struggled to stay awake due to the blood loss... And walked away toward the roofs entrance.

"I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!" The boy yelled at the armored being at the top of his lungs as it echoed through the hall. He wasn't going to let this thing oppose him, no matter how old he was or how big they were to him. He took out a ninja wire before he wrapped it tightly around his chest and over his shoulder, hoping to restrict the bleeding and gain a better sense of mental control. He looked at the retreating form of the armored man and bit his lip... He trudged forward and began a slow jog at the man and began doing a genjutsu to try and subdue him.

What he didn't see was Master chief turnaround at him with a hand fist.

**POW!**

The boy never saw the backhand... He flew back after catching a hard strike to the cheek that emitted a loud smack in the hall. The back of his head hit the floor and rattled his brain inside, making him feel queasy. He groaned in pain before turning over on his stomach. Master chief had only used a small miniscule percent of his strength in that punch, if he had gone full force the boy would've broken his neck.

The young shinobi gripped his head in pain and groaned through his teeth. He stood up as chief began walking away again and wobbled his direction. The boy struggled against the wall and looked down at his feet and saw them fade in and out in disoriented shapes. Spots and colors went in all directions. Vision in his left eye was pure gray and his stomach was beginning to stir...

Sleeping didn't sound so bad right about now...

Almost like a heavy weight on his back he began to shuffle slower and slower and a pushing feeling to his subconscious.

He had not killed to fall unconscious here, not today.

The boy shook his head and looked around the hokage towers hall, trying to see what was happening, but his vision was growing fuzzy and his fingers were getting very cold. He looked up for a few more second before he attempted to step again, but he slipped on a tiny metal cylinder and slumped against the wall hardl. He looked up with his eyelids growing heavier... and had one last thought before passing out with a deep scowl.

"_I'll get you bastard..."_

Meanwhile, the Master chief made his way to the door and kicked its off its hinges. He saw the entire scape of the roof and deduced he was at the correct elevation to gain access to the strike fighter. The Master Chief observed the entire solid gray rock roof that was 20 meters wide and 30 meters ahead from the edge. The overall design was simple stone ground. It was smooth with a few cracks and dribbles of mud here and there, and also puddles scattered across from the moist air. He looked for a suitable spot to send a distress signal to the Strike Fighter since he needed to be at the highest point, at least by another few feet. After a few seconds of scanning out the area, there was good news and bad news to this part of the operation...

The good news was is it was now or never to get out of this village and back to base for what he had obtained. Even though he had not received the maximum information he was looking for like a world map. The geography book contained what was considered more than enough info and hopefully up to date with what he was looking at. He was also lucky to be able to locate attack plans for the village of kiri against the border nation of Konoha...

...because it gave an exact location of the home village he was looking for. The coordinates were there. Located up on top left corner in small writing.

However there is still the bad news that he had to deal with...

The bad news was that The Strike Fighter wasn't capable of landing and taking off again due to its jets being way too powerful. Then there was the lack of a safety harness pulling cord to sustain its landing gear. So in conclusion, the only way John was going to be able to get back inside the Strike Fighters cockpit was to time it right, and jump inside the lower or upper openings perfectly. From this elevation though, he had a very slim chance of making the entry...

The master chief sprinted toward the end of the roof over the bumpy surface that was moist and looked over to see what the distance was between him and the ground. The mist too opaque and obscured his view from the ground below him with his current vision. However, his HUD calculated it within a few seconds and showed up on the top part of his vision...

**HUD: [[[[GROUND RANGE]]]]/ [74.8 METERS]/**

John mentally nodded in approval seeing that he was high enough from the ground. Making sure not alert anymore enemies. He lightly touched his wrist and pressed the distress beacon on the glowing TAC PAD. The small button pressed down glowed green, and suddenly appeared at the very side of white letters, and then glowed to yellow.

**{ARRIVAL IN/ [[[[2 MINUTES]]]]/ NEED TO PROCESS AREA ZONING AND ELEVATION}**

The master chief was about to try and re-calibrate different a setting to the landing zone. Or to try to be set for immediately, but something on his motion scanner alarm went off and alerted him of another presence within the area. His instincts kicked in as he took his rifle off his back magnet clip and reloaded a few bullets into the clip chamber. He then turned the safety off and looked at the side of his scanner to see if there is anyone around him...

On all four sides there were shinobi conversing to his location... And it was evident that they knew of his presence.

The Master Chief thought whether it was better idea to either engage them in frontal combat, or to possibly lure them on the roof and take them out silently... But with only two minutes spare he had left he would take the frontal approach instead-

**WOOOOOOOOSSHHHHHHHHBOOOOOOOOOMMM**

Suddenly, what sounded like rushing water appeared. It sounded as if it were a mad wave against a very strong surf. He didn't question how it had appeared behind him, and didn't bother to turn around as he pushed his legs off the ground and leaped forward. His training paid off as he wasn't swept at the very second but could hear how close it was approaching. He kept running and sprinted forward with his rifle slung in his right hand. John quickly went forward toward the very edge of the building. It was nearly a 250 foot drop. If he wasn't careful it would be a serious blow to the operation.

He had to leap over the edge of the roof and began to let gravity take effect. As his helmets vision loomed below the point of no return, his hands shot up and gripped onto the ledge when the water nearly rushed off his head. The thick and dense water ran over the edge and over his fingers as he nearly lost his grip, but after pressing his fingers into the soft rock again he held on tightly while using his legs to keep his gun in place. The water rushed over his visor making him see nothing but white dark blotchy colors. Cracks began to emit from the rock when chief saw his weight was causing him to sink slightly. He turned his head down as he watched the water plummet toward the streets below. The falling water resonated almost like a waterfall off the roof in John's mind. He had seen plenty in his life to tell it by it's sound..

He wondered though how the roof was being able to support all of this.

After more than a few seconds of the water rushing over his visor, he smashed his boots into the stone and hoped that would hold him. Still, the stone piece he was holding onto cracked evermore. He reached down for his weapon between his legs and used it to clip to his back, to gain more mobility. He decided to climb up the ledge and see who was up there with him. Ever so slowly to make sure he didn't cause a free fall, his head peered up and he could only see a few unimportant details. After looking on the scanner above his HUD radar system, more than seven targets on the roof appeared with him...

Looks like silently taking them out was out of the window by now.

He scaled the side of the wall by sticking his fingers into it once again like before. He then used his arm muscles to heaved himself hard upward and flew up into the air. His rifle flew up into his hands as he gripped it tightly over the shoulder. He came forward and landed in a standing position right in the middle of the barron roof...

...And found himself surrounded on all sides by 6 several shinobi. All the shinobi around him simultaneously began performing rapid hand signs expertly. The master chief landed and quickly accessed what he was up against. But right before he was going to take the first shot at the Shinobi, be around they all shouted loudly.

**"WATER STYLE: GREAT WATER WALL."**

At first Master Chief could see several shinobi ranging from 37 of them around him, but a few feet below him at the same. It would seem that they were around the very base part of the structure and were hiding around. Before he was going to take a few steps forward and see if he could take out a few of them...he swore he could hear something roaring in the distance. It wasn't the Strike Fighter...

But he could could make out the sound of wind howling or being passed through at an alarming rate. He could feel something repeatedly tapping against the back of his armor but became more and more intense as seconds rolled by . When he looked around on his scanner he could see targets on all sides but didn't fire at them, but kept his rifle trained forward. The fog was becoming dense so that he could no longer see with his normal vision.

But the dark outlines and shapes could still be made out if one were to squint their eyes and focus hard enough. He then began to feel thousands upon thousands of tiny taps on his helmet and armor. He kept his assault rifle steady but craned his neck to the left and looked behind to see tiny droplets of water pelting him and going behind them like a flock of birds.

This is happening so quickly that he almost thought the ocean was being brought up on the roof that he was residing on. He watched in slight bewilderment to see the water sink into the ground through the cracks of the stone below to the second floor. Master Chief looked around again and saw the fog was also becoming denser and denser to the point where it became pure water floating in mid-air. But that came to and the end as well when it's splashed upon the rocky surface and into the cracks.

This process seemed like it lasted for almost an eternity after watching it, but really was only 10 seconds.

It all however all stopped abruptly...

Almost like life itself, water shot up around Master chief on all sides like geysers and continued upward for seconds on end. It caught him by surprise since the roof was made out of pure stone and there were no holes in it to show for a water geyser. Master Chief backed away in defense and tried to run behind toward a safe zone but the water cut him off.

The aquatic wall then begun to connect around him and form. He area that message chief was caught in was roughly 30 to 40 feet in diameter. The water around him kept shooting up and began to evaporate quickly and go back towards the bottom, almost like an infinite pattern of forming the wall or trap in this case .

The master chief looked around for a few seconds ,and could still see the shinobi still standing outside the water barrier. But they were standing around and looking at him oddly while some had confident gleams in their eyes for the prize they had caught. Some held faces of pure seriousness, while others looked at him with curiosity. However, most of them had white clay masks with black slits over the eyes. They each had a different design in many colors from red and blue, but what they all shared were the four distinctive lines on the forehead. Probably a marking of some sort to symbolize their nation or name.

Master Chief was out of his zone when the water began acting unstable and shook the roof around him. He gained a bad feeling in the pit of his senses when a low rumble resonated below the rock beneath him. He looked down after hearing something indescribable vent from below... He let his eyes glance down to spot the cracks in the stone beginning to spread and create a spider webs illusion. He tried to back off of it, but something... Was wrong... It felt all very wrong.

The Hunter-nin raised their hands in a cupping formation and lifted their arms. It began pulsing a blue energy around them, and continued around the water trap. They surged their hands forward in a pushing motion, forcing more chakra into the jutsu and seal to give it a powerful restriction. It began to cause the surrounding air to oscillate slightly and make chief have second feelings on the escape plan. The black kanji in black ink writing soon glowed and... came off of their hands.

The Master Chief didn't know what on earth was going on, but felt something pulling at his insides forcibly. It didn't feel right. Almost like he had forgotten something drastically important, and it would have killed him right then and there if he had forgotten it. It could be described as the feeling of "Being alone and afraid." The Master chief did know of these emotions, but he put them out of his head long ago. But out of compulsion to ease the literal empty feeling, his right hand lowered the butt of the gun and his left hand raised up to his chest and brushed over the top part of his armor. It lightly scraped against its titanium plating and downward a little...

The kanji seals kept floating forward as the ring of chakra continued over the water formation. The Hunter nins felt the pressure building more and more within their systems. _"Yes, the seal is working! Just like I planned with those seal masters. If this works I will have the most powerful contract summons in Kiri" _One of the hunter nins thought in victory. However, his victory was shortly lived when it all stopped. The kanji writing faulted and retracted back onto the palms of the hunter nins, and the massive ring of blue chakra connecting them shimmered lightly, almost like a ring...

...

...

...

...

... before stopping completely. The ring of water that was continuously pushing water upward around chief lost it's blue hue, and remained calm. The Hunter nins let a gust of air out as as they backed away slowly in shock and fatigue. The amount of energy they had all been pushing was at their max. It had taken three different fuinjutsu experts to calculate the size and density of the Spartan. Then capturing him was the hard part.

They looked at their palms in confusion. And one of them yelled. "I thought you said you perfected that seal Tochimaru!" One of the hunter nins yelled toward the other. The master chief felt the pulling on his insides leave and his breath was released quickly. What on earth was that? It was like... He was frozen in place to the bone. It was something that couldn't be described through words... Only by one pure term. "Constricting"

"I did! Unless he's human then the seal should be failsafe.. UNLESS THOSE SEAL MASTERS TRICKED ME!"

The Master chief shook his head to shake out the vertigo. He trained his eyes forward and saw a few red blurs sprint over his screen on his HUD scanner. He tried to follow them with his eyes and see if they were coming from below or above him but he didn't see anyone moving past at the very second. His eyes roamed toward the left ever so slowly as his ears perked to the sound of a few things at the very moment. They were mostly useless sounds... but he could hear 3 distinctive sounds against his sensitive eardrums...

The sound of birds flapping in the distance could be heard against his eardrum...

The sound of water dripping off a metal pipe, then free falling before smacking against the cold stone...

Finally... the sound of something moving...

Very Fast...

The Master chief faced what he was up against by spinning his body around and ducking into a kneeling position. He could hear something whizz by his helmet. But when his vision adjusted to what he saw, his eyes widened in quick realization when he was suddenly surprised from behind as something lunged toward him at an incredible speed.

He spun his head around like a top and ducked. He didn't know what happened from his surrounding that moment... But something pure white sped past his head like a bullet by a few mere inches. His eyes caught a very small glance of it, and he could hear the speed it was going at from the sound of the wind being sliced.

But this all ceased when another red blur sped past him and an additional white round object caught him on the side of his face and shattered, into thousands of tiny shiny particles. The bash affected his armor charge by causing it to fluctuate and dropping by 12% from the impact of the unknown object.

He could hear a ringing in his ear from being struck that hard.. He groaned softly as looked down to see he dropped his rifle. His right hand quickly reacted by grabbing it and standing fully straight up, and alert for what was going to come. It caught him by surprise, but it wouldn't happen again. His vision caught glimpse of the supposed Mizukage standing before him with a downward expression, and holding an odd weapon with both hands across his midsection. It was a light brown staff made of some sort of metallic wood, with two sphere like ends on each side. It was connected by a small chain link in the middle, almost like in the form of nunchucks / a bow staff. The round parts on the end looked like pearls... But they were very large, almost the size of a bowling ball.

"You have caused enough trouble here." The Mizukage said calmly with his eyes closed while he stepped closer. "We have laws that must be followed through and through. Failure to do so will be dealt with extreme punishment." The mizukage vocalized as his black sandal stepped on a pebble making it crunchy lightly. "But, since you are different, I must make this sentence truly break your mind. From this moment on, you will be taken to the dungeon and live the remainder of your days as a prisoner." He proclaimed stoically. The then pointed the long staff at John making him tense his trigger finger. What made him stop from applying just a tiny bit more pressure was what the mizukage say.

"You will then have your skin removed by our best scientists... For future study- It would benefit toward our victory if we knew what kept you so protected. "

He thought the armor was Master chiefs skin...

John would like to have facepalmed only considering he was surrounded and needed to be on his toes. He let his eyes drift to any ways of escape. His first instinct would be to try and shot his way out and through. But from the ammunition on his HUD was short...

"I'm leaving, and you won't stop me." John said as he kept his aim at the Mizukage between the black restless eyes. The leader however turned his head and walked briefly to the left side.

"How did you avoid the sealing? It should have worked on you, considering your a _demon_." The mizukage wondered in seriousness. He had seen many contracts with summons ranging from different mythical beast. It was mostly common among the military in other warring nations, such as the land of Iron like the Samurai's... But never to this much extent. He at first though this was another man in armor... But to wipe the floor clean without the aid of any of the shinobi arts was unhinged in any way. The chase between him and the spartan could also be looked into further. He had his best trackers try to find a source of chakra... Nothing though. Thats when things took a turn.

"Yet you managed to restrain your chakra...Unless you're dead that shouldn't be possible. Tell me; how did you do it?"

The master chief wasn't going to contort with the enemy. He didn't have any business here and wasn't going to much longer. In his mind he didn't have, or want an answer to give. The master chief then remembered he had a loaded rifle in his current possession, and was pointing at the mizukage, in a definite one-shot-one-kill. He pulled back the loading chamber and aimed at the mizukages head... For effect that is.

The mizukage noticed this. He was wise for his age, and he was wise enough to know when the opponent was going to strike like the serpent. He looked dead into John direction and said cynically. "You are surrounded on all sides, you have no means of escape, and if you even attempt to attack me which I highly doubt, you will be killed yourself. But no matter what you do, you can't take them all on." The hunter nin meanwhile kept the water wall around them up as they talked by forcing the barrier to hold... For the moment.

While he was right on the first sense of being surrounded, the Master Chief wasn't an easy person to kill... Almost like that last cockroach that always manages to get away and restart the family. Many had tried to end his life. Thousands in fact.. Some had come closer to others, but no one succeeded in that regard..

The shinobi on the outside of the water wall began to draw out their weapons and slowly move forward. The Master Chief let his hand move over to the tack pad and press for an immediate run by from the Strike Fighter.

"What do you think you're doing?" The mizukage stated as he saw The master chiefs hand and touch his wrist. He was expecting a blade of some sort to coming flying forward with killing intent. Speaking of killing intent the Mizukage was in the beginning of feeling something clutching at the back of his throat. Like someone ... But was met with a few bold words of declaration...

"You're an illusion... and you're wrong." the Master Chief said as his hope was nearly here.

"What? What did you just say?" The Mizukage asked as he stepped forward to the armored being with is weapon spinning over his fingers in a blur motion. This was a technique to either throw off the target with fast paced motion, or to act cocky in a tough situation when you were losing. But he didn't partake in boasting, and he wasn't going to lose a battle with something that hadn't even fought him yet. He wasn't the first Mizukages bodyguard for a reason, and that reason was very big comparable to a man who beat a tailed beast. While he heard the first part for the spartan, he didn't quite understand the last part...

The master chief looked toward the top right view of his heads-up-display, and casted an eye over the yellow blinking description that was warning him.

**HUD: \\\\[[[[STRIKE FIGHTER ARRIVAL CURRENTLY]]]]/[10.3 seconds]/**

If he timed it correctly, you would be able to make it inside. But the only way you could be able to jump is to get on top of the entrance building. But right now he was trapped on all sides and ammunition was on the down low.

He looked behind him and observed the water pressure pushing up...

Pushing...

Up...

He gained an idea...

He looked back at the Mizukage with his rifle lowered and walked backwards slowly.

"Don't move!" The illusion mizukage shouted as he rushed forward with his weapon spinning hazily toward the chief. The master chief fired at the fake mizukage... who bursted into a pile of water.

**SPLOOOSHHH**

The Master chief stepped back quickly into the water that was forcing its way upward into the sky like a geyser... And was launched like a bullet out of the barrel of a gun. The mizukage, who was attempting to sneak up behind chief through a water teleportation jutsu perfected by him, was not so luck. He didn't see were he would appear since the water was moving to hard and unfortunately got elbowed in the face by master chief on accident. His face was smacked and caused him to shuffle backwards a few steps.

**WOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHHH**

The master chief, even though he was covered in water as it dripped off the opening portions of his armor... flew straight into the bottom part opening drop door. His body slammed back into the seat and he gripped the throttle while pushing forward

**WOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHHHHHH **

The Hunter nins heads snapped up, and from the lack of control they dropped the water trap jutsu and gazed into the cloudy sky. Many of them lost track of the metal bird as it disappeared into the mist a couple hundred feet it out over the buildings... But they could still catch the deep metallic roaring sound it emitted from miles around. Some of their eyes widened in shock and awe at the sheer amazement of the metal object... that was flying. Some of them had a quick thought and assumed the Spartan had taken the form of a metal bird.

Their breaths were rapid but strong in the moment. They grew quiet when they felt and heard a low rumble come from behind them. Looking at each corner for the ominous noise rapidly only worsened the watchful eyes. It was almost like an earthquake in air... They turned their bodies and looked up into the blank sky ... at first they saw something black in the distance move around smoothly like an exotic blur...

"I thought I saw something." The hunter nin said softly. The other hunter ni looked back at him before saying. " You thought... Or you did?"

The mizukage wiped his bleeding nose onto his thing sleeved coat before letting his ears take listen. The pain taking over his head was astronomical at this point and thinking of how to capture the spartan was a priority. He stood on the very tip of the roofs edge overshadowing the village. His dark eye looked to the left when he heard the low rumbling again... he turned while aging his staff but only saw red in his eye. He rubbed it and seethed in pain as he felt an explosion of pain above his eye...

The hunter nins kept looking around for any sign of him. Thinking that it was possibly a trick to catch them off guard. After hearing all the water leave the roof and into the cracks ... they listened and waited...

One particular hunter nin held a medium length sword with a red handle up in defense as he looked above and forward, into the distance for any type of contact...

He thought he saw something glow behind the grey clouds... something bright and blue... he squinted his eyes behind the hunter non mask and looked closer...

...Only to see an orange and white two winged metal aircraft began flying right at him from a good 200 meters. It started at a small black thing in the distance. But a strange vibration got bigger... Additionally, a weird eerie glow was behind it. It became bigger and bigger as the seconds rolled by.

The speed it was flying at was unknown from the shinobi at the moments. But if one to pay attention, it would have easily broken the sound barrier. All their minds halted just a single millisecond as they gazed upon d monstrosity that was coming in for the kill.

"EVADE!" The bloodied mizukage yelled. His eye was beginning to swell as a few teeth were missing from his lower jaw. The master chief really wasn't paying attention on how much force he had put behind the reversal elbow strike. If by pure luck Master chief had aimed lower, he would have ended up striking the mizukage in the throat.

The mizukage's hands created a few signs in a blur, then he yelled. "ICE STYLE: SECRET TECHNIQUE-DEATH RAIN!"

The Mist in the air around the roof formed into spear like appendages, and begin to launch themselves at the Strike Fighter with deadly precision accuracy. The clear ice Spears cut through the air, flying at a high speed toward the Jets wings and body. The master chiefs eyes scanned over the controls as he strapped himself in with the restraints. The buttons glowed under his gaze, and he began flipping a few of the switches on the sides to unlock the weapons. As of the very moment he was currently able to escape... But he firmly believed these shinobi needed to be dealt with after attempting to eradicate him...

Permanently...

As he zoomed over the top of the kage tower like a speeding bullet, he flipped a few of the rotation switches and grabbed the clutch. He then slid his left hand grip the wings flaps rotor, and made a u turn for a shooting run. He needed them to be dealt with in case they didn't follow him or track Any of his weapons. Taking account though for the lack of technology, it would have taken a while. If Cortana were here she probably would have corrected him. Now that his cover was blown from the very beginning of the operation, he didn't need them locating the infinity due to them being near the oceans waters. It was all a matter of taking heavy precautions.

The shinobi were intelligent enough to build a vast village economy supporting themselves and had numerous information on these inhumanly capabilities. They were quite the opposite of intelligent... most of them were certified geniuses. Coordinates could also be used against chief if they had a way to track him through the terrains pace. Even though it seemed impossible for them to track, he couldn't be too careful... He would have to remain under the radar when on the search for a way home...

In fact, John had to make preparations for Nawaki to get to his home safely. The Master Chief wouldn't allow the boy to wander on his own during this conflict between the foreign nations. It was wrong on everything he stood for, and he had to do what was right. In these type of situations concerning children, it would be wise to find out any information on them.

But these would be inconclusive due to several reasons. If that were to fail, John would have to take Nawaki to the higher ups in the Office of Naval Intelligence, and they would take it from there . Now If that had failed, John would have to manually return him to his home. Now that he had contained some very important documents, they would benefit greatly in that case. Then the war could be looked into more with the numerous amounts of data...

When arriving closer to the top part of the tower, it came into view through the mist. He saw tiny sharp particles blink quickly and thought it was the light reflecting off from the buttons. He was wrong when it began to beat against the STRIKE FIGHTERS reinforced glass like a swarm of angry bees. After a second of the nonstop barrage, it began to crack slightly around the closing edges.

He turned the throttle to the entire side and hit the rear boosters. The master chief then flipped open the glass glass top on the machine gun triggers, and squeezed it.

"What the hell!? Did the Spartan morph?" The hunter nin thought as he ran into the building in fear for his own life. He didn't turn back once as he escaped the soon inevitable battle.

"We need to fall back behind the safety line! You hear me!? Fall ba-

The shinobi was cut through by five of the high velocity tank piercing bullets from the strike fighter.

"I don't know... But we have to kill it!" one of the shinobi quickly said as he took cover behind the entrance well to the roof. Unfortunately, this didn't provide any cover whatsoever and the bullets punctured it and cut the shinobi and the sides.

The mizukage roared through the air. "DO NOT FIGHT IT!"

Suddenly, a rain of mini explosions shook him from the ground up. It began to kick up the gravel and dirt smacked the ground around him. The strike fighter flew overhead 20 or so feet above like the wind and grazed the sound barrier it was traveling at. The sound and vibration from it was deafening, and nearly made nearly made him lose his footing on the wet rock. It went deep into the fog again as it made another turn. The mizukage growled through the dust as he began collecting chakra and performing hand signs.

He then yelled. **"WATER STYLE: WATER SPOUT!"** He heaved his breath inward before expanding his lungs to nearly impossible proportions. Water immediately shot out of his mouth like a firehouse as it circled around him on the ground.

The water shield kept spinning like a twister for minimal protection. Until a very loud bang sounded off like a cannon and the Mizukage who was in the middle of it. His right side was pushed toward the side so fast and hard that he was blasted off his feet and onto his back in a heap. His detached arm began shooting blood out along with his stump. He ultimately lost control of the Jutsu and gained a reminder that day... to never go up against a jet..

**BRAAATTA! BRATTTA! BRATTTA!**

A bombardment of bullets exited out of the ports of the massive 120mm Ventral guns as they impacted against the towers roof. Rounds sliced through the towers foundations, and caught anyone off guard into a walking target inside. Some shinobi who were quick enough were able to find a safe running start away from the conflict. They managed to uses zip lines in their pouches to jump off the building, or shush in out of their.

But some were not as lucky. 3 Kiri nins were cut in half by the high velocity jet rounds that cut them in chunks. While 2 exploded into warm gushes of blood with bits of arms and legs scattering along with rock dust. Their bodies, or what was left of them fell on the smoking gravel and into the massive pool of blood. The jet flew overhead once more and repeated the process of another run by.

The Mizukage played in the ground as his felt nothing below his left arm... he couldn't feel his fingers, let alone move them. He hazily turned his head to look down... his good eye in horror when he saw nothing down his left, except his torn red cloak and nothing below the elbow. His adrenaline was running mad at the moment so he didn't feel the pain that would be making him thrash around... yet. He shakily got up in his feet after spitting a few pebbles out of his mouth and looked around him. The roof around him or what was left was penetrated with large holes that were still smoking, and littered with numerous bodies.

He looked closely to see parts of the hunter nins body parts scattered everywhere. Arms here and legs across the roof with blood tripping lazily off the fingertips and painting the roof in crimson red. They layed on the stone with blank or terrified expressions behind their porcelain masks... some of their masks along with their heads were even blown off...

The mizukage swore under his breath as he looked into the sky and saw nothing but the blank color...

"WHERE ARE YOU!?" The once calm cool and collected mizukage roared into the sky in a fit of rage. "YOU LISTEN TODAY DEMON! FROM THIS POINT FORWARD I WON'T REST UNTIL YOU DROWN IN YOUR BLOOD!" The mizukages once fired up inside was beginning to die down now to a barely lit flame. His adrenalin was ending and his heart beat which was causing blood to seep out of his wound. His eyes were growing heavier and heavier until he began to fall to the side.

The Master Chief was relentless on the building... After more than a few minutes of run by to see if anyone had survived, he saw on the a few life signatures leaving the premise. They began to scatter like roaches in different directions for cover. They were moving surprisingly fast on his Advanced scanner when connected to the jet.

While his first intention was to kill them for the chase and battle, he had what he needed, and it was time to go. His ammunition was nearly spent as is. The fighter could hold up to 30,000 rounds of ammunition to fire. He was attempted to fire onto the village with the Spartan laser on the front port once he had marked them and had their exact locations. It would be easy once he calculated the distance from him and them. Some were taking refuge in buildings, in sewers, and on roofs. He could easily terminate them from here.

However, while his scanners not only picked up their signatures it also caught unknown signatures. It was either Ame forces still within the village that were trying to retreat... or possibly numerous civilians.

At this point had to halt his actions completely...

He reached his hand forward, turned the clutch over to the left and shot off into the distance over the damaged misty city. Down below buildings were demolished and the roads were scrapped with craters. Fires burned everywhere and sent powerful clouds of black smoke into the air and gave it the smell of despair within. He knew that smell all too well.. Understanding the uninterrupted conflicts happened years ago in Master chief's torturous mind.

Accepting it never really transpired in a way, but took a very short time to sink in. It was all to be dealt with and taken with a hard dose of reality. Nothing more on his part. It weltered whenever he felt as if the missions he was tasked to do was a failure... Whenever he felt as if he lost a mission, that smell lingered within his system. While he made it through the mission, he still felt as if he lost... The statement could also be backed up with the large burn that formed on his chest, that was nearly a few inches of melting his skin...

And he didn't like the thought of that... Dying.

Not. One.. Bit...

He turned his head downward to the lower center console in front of him, and slowly pushed the accelerator lever forward. Making the Boosters roar as he shot off faster. The Strike Fighter went further and further... until its blue jets vanished in the thick fog over the choppy ocean.

After a few seconds of the Spartans departure, The reinforcements of Kiri's special squad rushed up the stairs of the kage tower. It was hard to scale up the stairs up on the roof, since it was nearly unfit to walk, and the walls were lined with very large holes. There was also a smell of something indescribable in the air... They made it onto the roof only to find the amount of devastation... and the nearly dead Mizukage. The group of hunter nins then rushed in and began to look for any survivors among the Master chiefs wrath...

**[Infinity/ 2:46 PM]**

"GOD DAMNIT!"

**BAM!**

If anyone had been around the medical wing of the Infinity, they would have heard the scream of a young boy and the sound of pounding on the walls surface... But sadly, there is no other soul on the ship except for him. Master Chief and to remember to lock the room tight so if anyone had found the ship, which no one had it would remain securely marked down in and out... But here not calculated for when Nawaki was going to wake up unfortunately.

"When I find out who locked me in here I'm gonna kick them in the ASS!" He fired as he kicked the wall again, before shouting in pain at spraining his toe against the reinforced wooden door. He groaned before looking around the room for a way out. At first he had attempted to escape by using the air vents.

That didn't work. Considering the vents were bolted shut with some nearly indestructible screws. Nawaki had even tried to slip in by

Then he tried smashing the window. Which was probably the worst idea he had thought of. At first it was the only he could think of at the moment, and the easiest. Smashing the window though proved to be near impossible. The lining to the glass was practically scratch proof. The walls were in line with the shiny sheet metal that was nearly scratch proof. There was nothing else he could use from there for any means of escape from the mysterious hospital room.

Unless he were to somehow miraculously find his tools or his clothing... In fact, who in the hell took off his clothes?! Were the people some sort of pedophiles or something? It made him wish he had some idea where he was or where he had been captured to... But after seeing entire hospital room around him, he assumed he was probably back at an ally base and being treated for his wounds. He felt a giant sense of relief that he had woken up. He wasn't used to death that often, other than the fact that most of his relatives met grueling ends for the past few years. Nawaki let it pass his mind though and didn't let it hold him down. He had learned the only thing you can truly get out of life was being happy with what you had... And that was his sister...

But one question remained.

Where was he, and how would he get back to her?

Seeing the ocean though... Made him worried since he had never seen it before. Not once in his short life . He had heard remembered hearing stories and poems about the ocean, and it was basically a lake only it covered most of the planet...Since he had lived in the Land of Fire for his entire life, which was miles and miles away from the ocean ,he had never traveled there. Then there was the issue with the war going on, and leaving the village was dangerous at the time . But beside that he had never once laid eye on a massive body of water before in his entire life.

It was intriguing to see for the very first time. Like that one moment in your life when you see something you've never seen before, and you're just so enticed by its beauty that you can't take your eyes off of it for a second. Nawaki watched the waves whip back and forth for miles and looked jagged pieces of debris in the water get smashed against by the waves. He could also make out slight bumps upon the large pieces of metal... Possibly crustaceans making new homes among the wreckage.

These questions were going through his mind and we're continuing to bombard him with their presence. He was nervous on where he was, considering he could see nothing but no Shannon outside, and the sheer distance he was from the ocean... It made him afraid of heights just to see it. "Come on... what would Hashirama-oji do?" Nawaki said aloud as he wiped a drop of blood away on his arm from the IV he yanked out. Even though he didn't have the slightest clue what it was; since he wasn't able to read what was on the clear bag. At first he assumed he was at some sort of scientific facility and they were conducting experiments on him... Or it was a hospital that took tender care of its occupants. Finding a tender place though in a time like this was looking for a needle in a haystack. While it wasn't impossible, landing in one was improbable.

Seeing one this up-to-the-minute though was incredibly eye catching though. Everything either glowed or was as smooth as silk even though it was all clearly metal. The only times he would see places this cool were his sensei's laboratories. The ones filled with test tubes, old monitors, and hundreds of gene notes. Orochimaru had taken him there, but to him it was boring. But this... this really blew the other one out of the water.

A feeling of something running down his arm caught his attention and noticed he was still bleeding. Gingerly, he ran his fingers over the small puncture on his wrist. It stung, but his thoughts were more in tune with escaping. He thought of using his sisters mystic palm technique, but he was still fatigued.

"He would probably do something unexpected... But I don't have anything unexpected to use!?" Nawaki yelled at himself while looking for a solitary pocket on the thin medical gown. His hands ran up and down the sides quickly and hope for a piece of escape. He stopped after a few seconds of looking for any means of tools on him when it seemed hopeless.

He grumbled lightly to himself while walking back to the bed and sitting on it facing the window. He rested his chin in the palm of his hand and his elbow on his knee and arched his back forward. He let his light brown hair shadow his eyes. The taste in his mouth was awful to the point where he almost wanted to gag, but couldn't; process it with everything rushing and his mind. The very last thing he had endured was pure pain... Now it was just confusion to a whole new point.

Nawaki silently began to cry when he had the thought of never seeing his sister again. Or being killed whenever someone came back. He wasn't a fearless ninja that everyone strove and pushed him to become, he was still a young boy comprehending the wars actuality. He was too young at the time to remember his parents faces. There were numerous photos around the house and in the halls to remind him more and more... But as the years go by their faces in his memory continued to crumble away.

A few hours before he took that mission he and his team and just eating dinner. He could remember... or at least try to think of what had happened last. In retrospect, he and his team finished eating dinner near a running river before continuing past the Kami border... There was talking, the smell of the cool night air, the feeling of apprehension in the air...

After that nothing. No specific memories of what he charged into, or his teammates. He didn't know if there was anything else that happened. Was it a dream, or a sick mind manipulation by a spirit? Everything had been one thing after another, and all he truly desired was to know. What happened to his teammates, or Orochimaru-Sensei? Were they okay? Were they searching for him... or a corpse? The thoughts became terrifying to a point he felt he was going to throw up. Nawaki didn't think he would ever see them again...

This only made him cry more.

Confusion and fear were a bad combination... it only made the matter worse. Especially when you woke up without anyone or anything to talk to. Nawaki gasped when he wiped his tear and noticed his hand was still bandaged. It was wrapped tightly in gauze and stung his nerves whenever he attempted to move his fingers.

The smell in the room hinted there were medicines and unknown chemicals from surgeries...

His eyes snapped open after that realization. Whenever he was with her sister during her studies she would use many chemicals, and during those sessions some that were combined would explode. It would be comical throughout some weeks... While many he wish didn't happen. Recalling one time, one experiment was so bad it blew a hole in the side of his room through everything. Walls, pipes, wires, even his personal safe... Blasted through like it was nothing.

If he found a pair of incompatible sanitizers or anything... He could probably find a way out of this torture room by making a bomb. Even though he didn't remember the names that well, he could try to escape by their smell. It wasn't smart in any way, but it was his way.

He turned his soft brown eyes over to a few of the cupboards above a sink across his room. He got up off the bed and walked toward it. He reached his good hand up and grasped the cold metal of the handle, and pulled it back to reveal hundreds of oddly shaped bottles.

He groaned in defeat. _"This isn't my day. What am I supposed to use here?!"_ He thought idly in his mind.

When it came to playing a sleuth... he was terrible. Academically that it. He reached up for the first plastic bottle and held it in front of his face. His features scrunched up when he saw a jumble of signs he had never seen before. The bottle was clear plastic, with a white cap, and a red and white label. He turned it around and thumbed through the back, and only grew more patient when there were a same mess of squiggly lines.

He studied the back more and more until his face contorted to anger...

... But what he didn't notice since he was angered at the moment was that behind him through the glass window, was a metal bird flying towards the infinity. The Sun cast over the bright silvery white sheet of metal of its side hull, creating a reflection of a flying polished fighter plane through the sky. Nawaki was so enthralled by the deep medicine cabinet he didn't see it fly right by his window. A gleam of light shines right over his bare back and gained a warm feeling to it. This alarmed him since the room was currently 62 degrees. He turned around like a top to see what had brushed against his skin...Yet saw nothing but the calm endless ocean.

The Master Chief had arrived... And not a moment too soon.

**[Infinity/ Loading bay/lower deck]**

The strike fighter speedily glided through the narrow entrance port gracefully balanced. Its flaps then folded back to halt it's speed and the boosters began to die down in power. Gravity took effect as the fighter plane began to descend on the long moving platform. On the platform, Strong magnetic strips brought the strike fighter down abruptly, then continued to move onward the armory bay at a very normal but slow speed.

The strike fighter went into the normal process as it stayed on the platform, and began to ascend upward on an elevator like shaft. A yellow flashing light above the upper deck spun around symmetrically, warning of the appearance. After more than 53 seconds of the sound of pulling systems and gears grinding, the yellow and grey platform halted. The sudden stop of continuous noise caused the room to grow dangerously silent... until.

The cracked glass dome popped off and landed a few feet away. It bent the metal down as it began to crack even more to the point of shattering. John exited out of the strike fighter with a half open book in hand, and placed it back on his belt for the moment. After more than 22 minutes and 31 seconds of reading a good portion of the cluster of pages on the way here, he now had a detailed map of the so called 'Elemental Nation' imprinted in his mind. He had some very powerful and deep thoughts of the information... But he was engrossed to it in a way. Leaders such as the acclaimed "Madara Uchiha" made him sick. This clan..._ Uchiha clan_... was not to be approached... at any time.

Upon entering the strike fighter and his escape from Kirigakure, John wanted nothing more than to get some well deserved sleep. Due to arbitrary reasons, he was unable to do so for a long length of time.

He then walked briskly into the armory and unloaded his weapons. Starting with his Assault rifle, he placed it on the work beach, then his magnum next to it. Next he placed the partially soaked brown hard cover book along with the files clustered up. It nearly covered the dirty workbench from previous repairs and tune ups he had made to his armor and weapons. Now that he was currently unloaded of all his provisions and tools, he needed to remove the damaged armor and take a quick power shower...

He didn't need to be a smart person to know the burns on his chest were lethal. From the intense longing stinging he was experiencing, it wasn't going to end well if left untreated. He distinctly remembered sessions about radiation, and its effect on those who were unprotected. It wasn't safe to be walking around the boy if he had radiation traces on him. Nawaki had gone through almost 3 surgeries and needed to be kept clean at all times...

John didn't stop as he made his way to the circular armor removal unit. He went to the keypad and activated it by pressing the on key, finally the access code. It loaded up for a few seconds and came to life with a flurry of drills and locks. He stepped upwards on the single stair, spread his arms like wings, and let the automated machines do their duty.

After an unspecified amount of minutes of drills and bolts, John stepped out completely bear of his heavy armor. The only problem was at the moment was that the under inner skin suit composed of hydro-static had melted. It was now destroyed and would be complicated to remove now.

John looked down towards his chest and looked at the hardened melted suit. His eyes squinted when he attempted to reach behind him for the smaller magnetic clasps. His fingers brushed against the first one behind the base of his neck. He tugged the back neck piece of it before he heard the clip snap. As he pulled hard down his back, they each released. His back became seem and revealed a few lengthy scars.

Some were very deep... while many were large. He kept his face emotionless as he pulled the skin tight suit down his muscular chest, revealing the large massive circular burn that was deep red. He winced when the skin pulled back a little on the gel and began to bleed slightly. After more than a few more grueling seconds of tearing it down off his epidermis, he finally stepped out of it. John lifted the now destroyed gel suit and took it to a lead lined create on the side of the room. Radiation couldn't go through lead, but since it was already in the air, it was a good place to store it at the moment.

Even though he was as made as the day he was born, he wasn't at all bothered by it. Lifting the lid and revealing a pole of broken down metal parts, john tossed the gel suit in, and shut the lid. John then locked it and prepped for it to be all melted down, and then disposed of properly. Walking over to one of the spare clothing lockers, John unlocked it and grabbed a simple pair of boxers. He slid them on past his thighs and around his waist, and walked toward the glass dome shower in the armory...

**BOOOOOM!**

...Then he heard the sound of a distant explosion.

"What... Was that?" He thought to himself in notion before he grabbed a loaded magnum and clicked off the safety.

"I BET HASHIRAMA-OJISAN COULDN'T DO THAT!" Said a young voice not to far away.

John in the meantime wanted to facepalm... But had other plans to attend to.

_TO BE CONTINUED..._

**AUTHORS NOTE: These past few months have not been easy for me. Probably for a good amount of people. Job hunting is bad, my grandpas's health is worse, and a girl I asked out to a dance stood me up. It's just the speed life goes by when you're so busy and enthralled by it. I was planning on updating this on christmas day as a gift, but got pushed back. Then I wanted to update on New Years... But came with more trouble. So consider this a present on Martin Luther kings day... Don't judge me. So please review/follow/favorite since I care deeply for all my readers and reviewers, and you guys are great... Really great I mean. I need your constructive criticism guys.. and gals if there any out there. And I will say this once... If you are coming at me as a flamer or troll, then get the hell out of my story!**

**-chao**


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